


Reunions

by puddlejumper38



Series: Mr Gold [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Amnesia, Angst, F/M, Non-canon villian death, Season 2 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 54,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9513170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puddlejumper38/pseuds/puddlejumper38
Summary: Sequel to Homecoming. Once the curse has broken, Belle and Rumplestiltskin want to leave town straight away to find Baelfire.(Not really necessary to read Homecoming first)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You don't really need to read Homecoming first, all you need to know is that Belle never had a cursed personality and her and Rumple have already been working on repairing their relationship.

 

The blank globe sat on the table at the back of the shop.

‘And this will show you where to find your son?’ Belle asked, moving around it to get a good look.

‘Yeah.’ Rumple nodded, looking apprehensive. ‘Of course, there’s no way to guarantee he’ll speak to me.’

Belle moved back towards him and squeezed his arm reassuringly. ‘We’ll find a way, Rumple. It’s been a long time, I’m sure he’s had plenty of time to process his anger.’

‘Or let it stew,’ Rumple muttered and he was as tense as a bow string.

There was nothing she could say, Belle knew, so she gestured towards the globe, tugging gently on Rumple’s arm. ‘The best we can do is try. You’ve come this far.’

‘Yes,’ Rumple agreed, a quiet determination in his tone. ‘And I’ll be going the rest of the way. _We’ll_ be going the rest of the way.’

He reached forward, and pressed his thumb into a spike at the top of the globe. It seemed as if his blood flowed into the blank globe, spreading over the surface like dye in water and then, gradually, forming a shape.

Rumple examined it closely, nodding to himself.

‘Do you know where that is?’ Belle asked.

‘Ah.’ Rumple frowned slightly. ‘Yes, I know where it is. This… this is New York. Once there… well, I’ll know where to go, within, say, the accuracy of a building.’

New York. Back in their world, Belle had never even imagined seeing a city such as New York. There world hadn’t had anything like it; anything that _busy_ , or whole groups of buildings taller than any castle. She was going to see a world all right, but it was a world like nothing she’d ever imagined.

And she was going to be helping her True Love at the same time.

Belle smiled. ‘So when do we set off?’

Rumple smiled back. ‘I see no reason to delay.’

With that Belle felt her smile fading.

‘My papa,’ she said softly. ‘I should really let my papa know I’m okay.’

Frowning, Rumple said, ‘Yes. Yes, of course.’

‘I know it would be delaying things a bit and I _know_ he won’t like the idea of me going off with you,’ Belle said reassuringly. ‘But there’s nothing he can say to stop me, I promise.’

Although, Belle realised, if she were to leave soon with Rumple, then she’d have to tell her papa that straight away. And her first proper reunion after so many years would inevitably be a fight. Biting her lip, Belle frowned.

It would be wrong to leave him not knowing.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t tell him in person,’ Belle said. Her papa would think she didn’t have a choice, no matter what she told him. Maybe it would be better if he had time to get over the shock of finding out she was choosing to be with Rumple, before she spoke with him in person.

‘Sweetheart,’ Rumple said, ‘don’t worry about the delay.’

‘Thank you,’ Belle said, meaning it from the bottom of her heart. ‘But that wasn’t what I was thinking. I… I think he’ll need time to process that I’m staying with you voluntarily.’

Rumple grimaced and looked down at his cane.

‘I think,’ Belle said, ‘I’ll just send him a letter.’

She could always come back and visit him when he’d had time to cool off. She knew her papa, and he’d always been so misguided about what was best for her. Well, she wanted to go off with Rumple and find his son, and she didn’t want her papa trying to get in the way of those plans.

‘Are you certain?’ Rumple asked. ‘If you truly wish to see your father…’

‘No,’ said Belle firmly. ‘It’s better this way. I’ll send him a letter.’

Rumple hesitated, then nodded. ‘There’s paper at the front desk, if you wanted to write it now. I’ll just… I’ll just make sure I have everything I need from back here.’

‘Sure,’ Belle said, and it was only as she was walking through the curtain that she realised something in Rumple’s tone had been different. Wrong for the situation. She didn’t want to be paranoid about him… but it was possible Rumple was up to something. Again.

Quietly, Belle moved back towards the curtain and peered past it, only to have her suspicions confirmed.

Rumple had put on a pair of gloves and was taking something out and the expression on his face…

Belle stepped back through the curtain. ‘What are you doing?’

He jumped, attempting to slide whatever it was back onto a shelf. ‘Just looking at a few things.’

‘Rumple,’ said Belle warningly. ‘What is that?’

Rumple pulled at one of the fingers of his glove. ‘Don’t worry about it.’

Belle glared. ‘I told you not to say that to me. What are you planning?’

‘It’s just a little something for Regina,’ Rumple admitted and Belle felt cold fingers walk down her spine. ‘It won’t kill her.’

‘But it will hurt her,’ Belle said flatly. ‘And you’re going to take the gloves off and leave it in the shop.’

Rumple grimaced. ‘Belle.’

‘No.’ Belle moved further into the room. ‘You were playing with words. With _me_. That’s not true honesty, Rumple. Leave the Evil Queen alone.’

‘She locked you up!’

‘We’ve _had_ this conversation! She locked me up, and cursed the whole town and did any number of horrible things and will probably face justice for it. Let her face that justice. Let your hate go, Rumple, and we’ll go and find your son.’

Rumple looked at the floor. ‘He wouldn’t like it either.’

Belle sighed. It was hard work, sometimes, being Rumple’s conscience. Ultimately worth it, for both him and their relationship, but hard work.

‘You’ll take the gloves off and leave that thing where it is,’ she said again.

Reluctantly, Rumple nodded, and began to pull off the gloves. He went still as the little bell over the door chimed.

‘Ah,’ Rumple said. ‘That will be Miss Swan.’

From behind the curtain there were muffled voices.

‘And company,’ Rumple added.

‘She’s going to be angry,’ Belle warned. The worst thing was, Emma had every right to be angry… at both of them.

‘Oh yes,’ Rumple agreed, with a little smile.

‘Gold!’ came Emma’s voice.

Putting the gloves down, Rumple took up his cane and limped through to the front of the shop, where Belle could hear slightly raised voices. Not Rumple’s though. Belle thought she could hear David and Snow White, as well as Emma.

Belle decided she was being a coward by staying hidden. Rumple may have planned it, but she’d gone along with it, and she was leaving him to face the music. Taking a deep breath, Belle pushed through the curtain.

Sure enough, Emma had brought both David and Snow White with her. Then again, they were her parents.

‘Not telling,’ Rumple was saying to Snow White, and then suddenly all eyes were on Belle.

‘Lacey!’ exclaimed Snow.

‘Belle,’ Belle said firmly.

Emma gestured towards Mr Gold. ‘You still think staying with him is a good idea?’

Rumple’s eyebrows rose, but he left Belle to answer.

‘I knew who he was from the start,’ Belle replied.

Emma’s eyes narrowed. ‘And you knew he was putting Henry’s life in danger.’

‘Henry’s life was never in danger,’ Rumple said calmly. ‘Or at least, not by my actions. If the, uh, _resolved_ matter of the sleeping curse is still bothering you I suggest you take it up with Regina, not Belle.’

‘Yes,’ Belle said. ‘I knew Rumple was going to take the potion off you. I’m sorry, Emma, but I knew it would lead to the curse being broken.’

Belle saw Snow turn to David and mouth: ‘Rumple?’

Emma was glaring at Rumple again. ‘You brought magic _here_?’

‘And you, for one, can benefit from that.’ Rumple smiled again. ‘Daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, product of True Love… you might find you have some magic of your own.’

Belle thought that over and decided it made sense. From what she’d read about magic, that was _exactly_ the kind of situation she’d expect. True Love was the most powerful magic of all.

‘What?’ David asked. ‘Emma has magic?’

‘No. I don’t.’ Emma folded her arms.

‘Hmm,’ Rumple said, noncommittedly. ‘Regardless. I have to wonder why you’re hanging around my little shop, _Sheriff Swan_. If ever this town had need of its sheriff, it’s now.’ He turned to Snow and David. ‘And perhaps also its monarchs.’

Emma took a step forward. ‘We’re not done here.’

‘Oh I know.’ Rumple was looking pleased with himself. ‘You still owe me a favour.’

Snow and David exchanged another glance.

‘Whatever it is that Emma owes you,’ David said. ‘We’ll pay it.’

‘What?’ Emma turned on them. ‘No you won’t.’

Snow gave her a small smile. ‘Emma, you didn’t know what you were getting in to.’

‘People rarely do,’ Rumple said. ‘But, alas, they make the deals anyway. Your daughter owes me a favour and I’m not inclined to change that.’

Snow was now glaring daggers at Rumple and Belle wasn’t sure there was anything she could do to fix the situation.

‘Come on, Emma,’ Snow said finally. ‘We should be back helping everyone.’ She glanced over at Belle and said, with false casualness; ‘Belle, why don’t you come to? We’ll be answering everyone’s questions, helping old friends and family find each other.’

‘He’s _not_ keeping me here,’ Belle said, trying very hard not to get annoyed at the question. They _were_ just trying to help her.

‘I wasn’t suggesting-‘ Snow began.

‘Yes you were, dearie,’ Rumple said. ‘You were imagining that I forced Belle to stay with me as part of some deal. That I, the evil beast, took her from her home.’

Belle glanced over at him, and caught the twinkle in his eye.

‘Well, did you?’ Snow asked defiantly.

‘Of course,’ said Rumplestiltskin.

Belle looked up at the ceiling and Emma eyed them suspiciously.

‘Beauty and the Beast, right?’ Emma asked.

‘Right,’ Belle confirmed, before Rumple could answer. ‘I am _choosing_ to stay with him. I love him.’

Off to her left Rumple straightened and said nothing, but David was now looking at him oddly.

‘Is she who you were…?’

‘Yes,’ said Rumple.

David frowned. ‘But you said-’

‘I was mistaken,’ Rumple said curtly.

Nodding, David looked thoughtful, rather than suspicious like Snow. Belle wondered what Rumple had told him. Whatever it was, between that and _Beauty and the Beast_ , it seemed to be enough to convince them that Rumple _wasn’t_ holding her against her will. Honestly, Belle was still a little annoyed they hadn’t taken her at her word, but she kept telling herself that they meant well.

Of course, she’d never gone against her will, even though it had been a deal. There hadn’t been a lot of choice, and yet it _had_ been a choice and hers to make.

Besides, Belle thought as the trio left the shop; that was long behind them.

She turned to Rumple. ‘I’ll just write that letter,’ she said, ‘and then we can go.’

_____________________________

 

Belle opened the door, and climbed into the Cadillac beside Rumple.

‘Next stop,’ she said cheerfully. ‘The airport.’

‘Mmm,’ said Rumple. ‘Not quite.’ Reaching down into the pocket in the car door he produced something long, thin and bundled in a small cloth. ‘Got to take care of this first.’

‘The knife?’ Belle asked. She’d almost forgotten about it.

‘Spade’s in the back,’ Rumple said, his fingers twitching around the knife. ‘Once we pass the town boundary, we’ll get out of sight of Storybrooke, then, this should be safe.’

Belle opened her mouth, hesitated, then said; ‘It can really control you?’

‘Yes,’ Rumple said tightly. ‘Magic like mine, it has a steep price. The knife is part of that.’

‘And the darkness,’ Belle said slowly.

‘Is another part.’

All magic came with a price. Rumple was very fond of saying that, but Belle found herself wondering…

‘Did you know?’ She chewed on her lip. ‘You told me you didn’t always have magic. Did you know the price?’

Rumple tucked the knife back away and rested his hands on the steering wheel, staring out the windshield. For a moment, Belle regretted asking. She wanted to know more about her True Love, she wanted to know how he’d ended up with so much dark magic, but it was not a subject Rumple liked to discuss.

‘No.’ The word was spoken quietly. ‘I did _not_.’

Emphatic. Belle looked at him closely, but Rumple was still staring out the window.

He started the car. ‘Doesn’t matter. I would have done it anyway.'

He was even more tense now and Belle decided to leave it at that. Whatever had made Rumple take on that much darkness… well, she’d be able to find out, they had plenty of time. It was _definitely_ a painful memory for him and he was already nervous about finally finding Baelfire.

They could both focus on that. She could ask him later.

‘Which airport did you say?’ Belle asked instead.

‘Logan International Airport.’ Rumple’s knuckles tightened on the wheel.

Belle sighed. ‘It’s going to be okay, Rumple.’

‘Yes, yes. Of course.’

There was a brief silence.

‘Perhaps I should have enlisted Miss Swan’s help,’ Rumple said. ‘Called in her favour.’

Belle looked at him curiously. ‘Why?’

He shrugged. ‘She knows this world. And knows how to find someone.’

‘But we know where he is.’

‘For the moment.’ Rumple glanced over at her. ‘He may run.’

‘He won’t – ‘

‘He _might_.’                                          

Belle gave up. ‘Okay. He might. And if he does we can come back here, get his knew location from the globe, and collect Emma while we’re here. Let her have some time with her family now.’

Rumple huffed out a soft breath. ‘That would be a long detour.’

‘ _If_ it happens,’ Belle smiled at him, ‘we can worry about it then. Look, we’re just about to leave town, if you _really_ want to go back and speak to Emma.’

‘No,’ Rumple said. ‘No. We’ll manage.’

They flashed past the Storybrooke sign and for a second, just a second, Belle thought everything was alright.

Then it all changed. Without warning, Rumple seemed to be caught in a blue light and he froze, his hands stiff against the wheel.

‘Rumple?’ Belle asked, shocked. Was that supposed to be happening? He hadn’t said this would happen!

The Cadillac began to drift off course, and Belle didn’t receive an answer.

‘ _Rumple_?!’

Shaking in confusion and fear, Belle lunged across the car and grabbed hold of the steering wheel, jerking it towards her as they veered towards the trees that lined the road. That seemed to get them out of danger, but Rumple was –

Belle was thrown forward against her seatbelt and then bounced back against the seat as the car slammed to a halt. She sat back into her seat, stunned.

‘What are you doing?’ Rumple snarled.

‘What?’ Belle managed, turning to look at him. The blue light was gone and he seemed unhurt. ‘You were… what _was_ that?’

‘What was _what_?’ Rumple snapped back, seeming unusually annoyed with her. He blinked suddenly, focusing outside the windshield. ‘What? Where…?’ He twisted in the seat, staring back towards Storybrooke.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong and Belle swallowed nervously. What had happened to Rumple? And why hadn’t it happened to her? Whatever it was, it had happened just as they left town… that couldn’t be a coincidence.

‘Are you okay?’ Belle asked softly, trying to get a good look at him.

‘I don’t…’ Rumple was frowning. ‘We’re outside the town. _Why_ are we outside the town?’

‘We were going,’ said Belle carefully, ‘to New York.’

She could hear her heartbeat thudding in her chest.

‘New York!’ Rumple turned to stare at her and most of the warmth was gone from his eyes. It was weird, it was wrong, it was like he didn’t even know her. ‘I don’t want to go to New York! This is… that… it doesn’t make sense. I don’t know what… I don’t know…’ He closed his eyes and shook his head as if to clear it. ‘Why am I out here?’

‘I told you,’ Belle said and it was so difficult to keep herself sounding calm. ‘We’re going to New York. We’re looking for your son, remember?’

Rumple stared at her. ‘Miss French, I don’t _have_ a son.’

_Miss French._

Any reply Belle had been about to make got stuck in her throat. No, it couldn’t be. It had to be, though. It had to be, because nothing else explained Rumple’s sudden change in behaviour. And never, _never_ had he called her Miss French.

‘Mr Gold?’ Belle asked tentatively.

‘ _What_?’ he snapped, and Belle swallowed hard, saying nothing.

Mr Gold scowled. ‘We’re going home.’

He restarted the engine and wrenched at the wheel, pulling the Cadillac around in a sharp U-turn. Belle hung on as they swung around, staring out the window, waiting as they flashed past the Storybrooke sign… and kept going.

Belle stared at Mr Gold, but he kept on driving. This time there was no blue light, no swerving, no sudden stop, and no Rumplestiltskin.

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Belle waited until Mr Gold was asleep and then she snuck back downstairs. It had been worrying her all day; just leaving the dagger lying down there with the rest of their suitcases. There’d been no way to do anything else, not without drawing Mr Gold’s attention, and the last thing she needed was him asking after it.

Rumple had always been so careful with it; careful enough that through all her time in the Dark Castle, Belle had never known of its existence. Other people did, though. August Booth had found out and that man (from his clothes and with hindsight Belle assumed he’d been some kind of pirate) had known about it.

The knife had to be hidden.

That was okay, because she and Rumple had already figured out the perfect hiding spot and Belle couldn’t see any reason to change it. Buried outside the town line, it would have no power and now Belle knew that very few people would even be _able_ to look for it there.

The Evil Queen probably could, but Belle had no intention of letting her find out.

She picked up the dagger, still wrapped up in its cloth, and headed for the shed.

The spade had made it back into the shed, with very little comment, thankfully. How she ever would have explained the reasoning behind taking a spade to New York was a mystery.

Retrieving it, Belle headed out in the woods on foot.

Taking the Cadillac, she’d decided, was out of the question. It drew far too much attention and Belle didn’t actually have a license. She knew how to do it, from the little bits of information the curse had given her, but she really didn’t need Emma Swan questioning why she was driving without a license.

Emma was unlikely to care, of course, but Belle wasn’t prepared to take any risks when it came to hiding the knife.

It an odd way, Belle felt Rumple had trusted her with it. He hadn’t meant to, at least no further than allowing her to know where it was hidden, but still, the responsibility was now hers and Belle refused to let him down.

She walked in the woods, a little distance off from the road, moving parallel to it. That way, Belle could be sure she’d left Storybrooke’s boundary _and_ she’d have some point of reference to find the dagger again, if necessary.

It would be awful for it to fall into someone else’s hands, but she couldn’t _lose_ it either.

Maybe Rumple would be able to find it anyway, Belle didn’t know. She couldn’t ask him. Blinking back tears, Belle chose her spot.

It was hard work, digging the hole and Belle winced as she flicked dirt into her eyes.

How deep it have to be? How deep would be safe?

Not very deep, Belle decided. If someone already knew where to dig, the depth of the hole would be the least of her – and Rumple’s – problems.

She put the dagger into the hole with care, wondering whether it would make a difference to Rumple’s magic. Again, she didn’t know and had no way of finding out. Rumple would hardly have left books about his curse where someone could find them. As far as Belle was aware, there _were_ no books about his curse.

If having the dagger outside the town line _didn’t_ affect his magic… Belle didn’t know if Mr Gold could use magic, without knowing he had it. She didn’t know whether to tell him.

‘Oh, Rumple,’ Belle whispered, as she filled in the hole, ‘it wasn’t supposed to be like this.’

Silently, she vowed it wouldn’t _stay_ like that. She had no magic and no clues of how to do it, but Belle knew there had to be a way to bring back Rumple.

_____________________________

 

Belle woke with eyes itchy from crying and the sinking feeling that the day before hadn’t actually been a horrible nightmare. A glance at the clock told her she’d overslept, the events of the day before had made it hard to get to sleep, but once she had, she’d slept the sleep of the exhausted.

There was no time for that now. Rumple would be up by now and Belle was hoping beyond hope that he hadn’t woken up as Mr Gold.

To Belle’s alarm, he was nowhere to be found. Another glance at the clock and her shoulders slumped. By this time in the morning, Mr Gold would have already gone to the shop… and it was looking more and more like _Mr Gold_ had gone to the shop.

Rumple wouldn’t have just left, not even after finding he couldn’t leave Storybrooke. Not even with that disappointment of knowing he couldn’t leave to find his son. He would have spoken to her first, told her he was okay. And he hadn’t. So Mr Gold had gone to his shop.

At least, Belle thought to herself, she _hoped_ Mr Gold had gone to the shop, because if he’d gone anywhere else, there was going to be trouble.

There were people out and about everywhere and Belle ignored them all, making a beeline for the pawnshop. Still, she couldn’t help hearing the rumbling rumours as they propagated through groups. The most prominent of which seemed to be; _we can’t leave town. If we leave town we lose our memories_.

Belle gritted her teeth and kept walking. She wasn’t going to ask when they figured that out. She wasn’t.

The shop had a closed sign on it, but when Belle tried the door it was open. Some part of her was still hoping it would be Rumple waiting for her, and Belle tried to push that away. She _knew_ it wasn’t. Belle closed her eyes, and stepped through the door.

The little bell rung cheerfully and Mr Gold was still nowhere to be seen.

‘Hello?’ Belle called, to no answer. She raised her voice and tried again. ‘Hello? Mr Gold?’

The curtain pushed open and he came out with that slow steady limp. ‘Lacey French. We have a great deal of things to discuss.’

Belle bit down on her cheek and hurriedly blinked away her suddenly misty vision. ‘We do?’

‘Oh yes.’ He disappeared back through the curtain, and Belle took a moment to take a few deep breaths before following him.

Mr Gold was standing near his spinning wheel and Belle suddenly felt as though she were made of lead.

‘This,’ Mr Gold said, in a perfectly level tone, ‘has never been here before. In fact, it has been in my back room so long I had all but forgotten about it. And yet, inexplicably, here it is.’

He looked up at her inquiringly, but Belle couldn’t find the words to reply.

‘Were this the only problem, Miss French, I’m sure I could simply ignore it. Perhaps move it back out of sight and forget about it.’ Mr Gold was staring at her with an expression that was hard to decipher. ‘Sadly, it is not.’ He moved away from the spinning wheel. ‘Interestingly, as I drove through town I found people, milling around everywhere, generally with posters, usually of a missing person.’

He waited, as if giving her an opportunity to respond, and still Belle said nothing.

‘Also there were fliers advising people where to get help. The suggestion of Dr Hopper was not a surprise, however the name _Sheriff Swan_ was. Somehow, I can’t imagine how, I was under the impression that our sheriff’s name was Sheriff Graham Humbert. That can’t, I wouldn’t think, be shortened to _Swan_.’

As he spoke Mr Gold’s hand was tightening on the top of his cane.

‘Combined with the little… incident last night...’ Mr Gold paused, as if unsure how to continue, although Belle had the impression he’d been thinking things through all morning. But then, who wouldn’t have, after finding themselves leaving town with no memory of _why_? ‘I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m missing a large chunk of time. Now, since you appear to have no such problem, Miss French, perhaps you could enlighten me.’

It was spoken as if it were a threat. Belle winced.

She hadn’t… actually given any thought on what to say. As painful as it was to admit, Belle realised that was because she’d honestly expected it to be Rumple who greeted her. Despite everything, she hadn’t quite been able to believe it.

‘Graham’s dead,’ Belle blurted out. ‘Emma Swan was elected as sheriff in his place.’

Mr Gold blinked, frowning for a second, then he shook his head and his expression cleared and his eyebrows rose. ‘As interesting as that is, oddly enough I do not recall an _Emma Swan_ living in this town.’

He sounded angry now and Belle scrambled to recover what she could from the conversation.

‘You…’ She needed something to say, _anything_. It wasn’t fair, leaving him confused, and… afraid. Belle could see the fear deep in his eyes and she wanted to help him, so badly. ‘You’re right, you’re missing time. I don’t… I don’t know why.’ The lie just slipped out and Belle found herself regretting it. Maybe she should just tell him the truth. ‘We were leaving Storybrooke and then you just… you swerved, nearly off the road… and suddenly you didn’t remember.’

And that… that was too much of the truth. Belle could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks.

‘Sorry.’ Belle hurriedly wiped the tears from her face. ‘Sorry, I just _don’t understand_.’

Mr Gold regarded her silently for a moment, then pointed to the table. ‘Have a seat.’

Belle pulled out a chair and practically fell into it _._ When she’d followed him through the curtain she’d thought she was prepared. Belle buried her face in her hands. How wrong she’d been.

There was a clink of glass and Mr Gold sat down opposite her, holding a bottle. As she watched, he began pouring them both a drink.

‘It’s, uh,’ Belle swallowed, ‘it’s not even midday yet.’

‘Some days just call for it.’ Mr Gold put the bottle down. ‘I believe today qualifies.’

Belle couldn’t argue with that.

Somehow, she expected him to down it in one go, but instead he only sipped it and then set the cup down, staring thoughtfully into the liquid. Since he didn’t start talking again, Belle carefully took a drink of hers, too. It was strong, but Mr Gold was right; if ever there was a day for it, it was that day.

Mr Gold ran a hand over his chin. ‘Exactly how much time would you say I’m missing, Miss French?’

‘Um.’ Belle tried to think about that in a way that didn’t include _his whole life_. ‘Nearly a year, maybe?’

This time Mr Gold took a gulp of his drink. ‘I see.’ He swirled the liquid in the cup. ‘And during this time, Sheriff Humbert died, Sheriff Swan appeared and replaced him, some kind of major disaster has separated people, and I decided that I would pack up and go to New York… with you.’

‘Yes,’ Belle said, her voice barely a whisper. ‘To find your son.’

‘Ah yes. You said that yesterday.’ Mr Gold took another drink. ‘I don’t have a son, Miss French, that is a simple fact.’

‘It’s just…’ Belle couldn’t look at him. ‘It’s just what you told me.’

‘Apparently I lied.’ Mr Gold frowned. ‘And you. I was sheltering you from Regina Mills, in return for you testifying against her if I asked. Somehow that changed to me leaving with you, for New York.’ He paused. ‘To look for an imaginary son.’

_He’s not imaginary!_ Belle wanted to shout. Instead she tried to work out what to say, something plausible, which wouldn’t make Mr Gold think he’d been lying to her and that might explain the missing person posters all over the town. The truth was so complex, Belle wasn’t sure it could be covered by any reasonable lie.

The bell on the door indicted someone entering the shop.

Mr Gold looked up, sighed, and said; ‘I supposed I should see to that. Someone has clearly misunderstood the meaning of _closed_.’

_‘Gold!_ ’ Emma yelled.

Belle supposed she should be thankful Emma hadn’t got comfortable enough to use Rumple’s real name, or things would have escalated quickly.

Mr Gold was up and moving towards through the curtain before Belle had thought of a way to stop him. Emma didn’t know. _No one_ knew.

‘The sign said closed,’ Mr Gold said in an unfriendly tone.

‘Yeah?’ Emma didn’t sound impressed. ‘Too bad. What I want to know is; why the hell can’t Regina just… _poof_ out of her jail cell? Mary Margaret said she should be able to.’

There was a brief frosty silence.

‘Dr Hopper’s office is further down the street,’ Mr Gold said finally.

‘Are you saying it’s some kind of mental thing? Because I don’t think Regina’s that far gone.’

There was no way that was going to end well. Belle stood up from the table.

‘No,’ said Mr Gold, ‘I’m sure _Regina_ is fine.’

‘Emma!’ Belle called with as much cheerfulness as she could muster as she brushed through the curtain.

‘Belle,’ replied Emma, with the same angry undertone that she’d taken ever since the incident with the True Love potion.

Inwardly, Belle winced. She’d been insistent about that, even before the curse broke, because she didn’t want to be called by a name that had never truly belonged to her. Now though… there was no way Mr Gold had missed that.

‘It’s _ages_ since we’ve seen each other,’ Belle continued, pasting on a big smile as she moved between Emma and Mr Gold. ‘Come on, let’s head down to Granny’s and we can catch up.’

Emma’s eyes narrowed, but only for a moment, then she offered a tight smile of her own and Belle was suddenly really glad that Emma had a good feel for that kind of thing.

‘Sure,’ Emma said, and shot a look back at Mr Gold. ‘This isn’t over.’

‘If you say so, sheriff,’ Mr Gold said evenly, looking pointedly at Emma’s badge.

Belle linked her arm through Emma’s and led her out the door. She felt a twinge of guilt as she realised she was leaving Mr Gold to drink alone at the back of his shop.

Emma pulled her arm free as soon as the door shut behind them. ‘What the hell is going on?’

Shaking her head, Belle kept walking down the street. ‘Not right here, he’ll notice us hanging around outside, and he’s already figured out something weird's going on.'

Emma followed her. ‘Yeah, well, if you could tell me what that weird thing is that would be great.’

Judging that they were far enough away from the shop, Belle stopped and lowered her voice. ‘We crossed the town line.’

Emma’s eyes widened. ‘Wait, so…?’ She stared back towards the shop. ‘But you’re not…?’

Belle shook her head. ‘I never _had_ a cursed personality, but Rumple did and we didn’t know and now there’s magic everywhere and you’re here and everyone remembers and I _don’t know what to do_!’

Taking a deep breath, Belle got a hold of herself. She hadn’t meant to say it like that.

‘Okay. So we’ve got Mr Gold instead of… Rumplestiltskin. Uh.’ Emma frowned. ‘Come to Mary Margaret’s with me, her and David should really know about this. I mean, they’re pretty much filling the role of Mayor, or king and queen, or whatever.’

They started walking again, in silence, until they reached Mary Margaret’s apartment.

‘Are they both in?’ Belle asked, suddenly worried. Snow and David had been Rumple’s enemies. _Everyone_ had been Rumple’s enemy.

‘Should be.’ Emma shrugged as she opened the door. ‘We’re trying to work out what to do with Regina. I’m sheriff and all, but cursing a whole town from another world isn’t exactly in the rule book. Ruby’s looking after Henry, I don’t really want to hear us talking about arresting his mom.’

David and Snow were standing in the kitchen, talking in low voices, and they both turned when Belle and Emma entered.

‘Belle?’ David asked.

‘Hi,’ Belle said, wondering if there was now a proper form of address for David. Well, maybe it didn’t matter; he’d never been her prince.

‘She and Gold crossed the town line,’ Emma said, sitting down at the table.

‘You crossed the town line?’ Snow asked, staring at her.

‘You always remembered, right?’ David said, ‘So you couldn’t revert back.’

‘But Rumplestiltskin could,’ Snow said, and she didn’t sound worried, not at all. She sounded like she’d just been presented with a world of opportunities.

Swallowing hard, Belle said; ‘He’s Mr Gold again and it’s already getting really difficult because he doesn’t remember anything after Emma arriving and he doesn’t understand all the fliers around. I just… we need to find a way to reverse it. Could the Evil Queen…?’

‘The Blue Fairy’s working on it,’ Snow said. ‘For Sneezy, but Belle, I know this isn’t what you want to hear – ‘

‘Then maybe don’t say it,’ Emma suggested.

Snow glanced over at her. ‘Belle, this could be the best thing that’s happened to this town since the curse was broken. We can patch things up _without_ having to look over our shoulders for Rumplestiltskin, wondering what he’s planning.’

Belle just stared at her. ‘We were leaving. You won’t be looking over your shoulder, because Rumple doesn’t _want_ to be here!’

‘But he _can’t_ leave now,’ Snow said. ‘So we’d have Rumplestiltskin who didn’t want to be here but was trapped, free to cause whatever havoc he wanted. Now – ‘

‘Now he’s cursed!’ Belle said. ‘And despite what you think he doesn’t deserve that. I don’t have magic, I can’t help him by myself, I _need_ help and I don’t think the Blue Fairy will listen to me.’

Rumple had always hated fairies. Worse, Rumple had had a habit of _killing_ fairies.

‘But the Blue Fairy _is_ looking for a way to reverse the changes,’ David said. ‘Once she finds that, _then_ we can worry about what to do with it. For now… you don’t have magic, Belle, but Rumplestiltskin did. Do we know what that means for Mr Gold?’

‘Well he’s cursed now,’ Emma said. ‘So no more magic, right?’

‘I don’t know,’ Belle admitted, still feeling stung by Snow’s idea to leave Rumple cursed. ‘Magic _wasn’t_ here before when everyone was cursed and Rumple’s magic…’

‘The Dark One magic won’t necessarily go away just because he doesn’t remember,’ Snow said.

‘He doesn’t know about it, though,’ David said thoughtfully. ‘Can you use magic accidentally?’

Snow turned to Belle. ‘He hasn’t _used_ any magic yet, has he?’

‘No,’ Belle said. ‘He’s just been… confused.’

And irritable the night before, although more confused when she’d met him in his shop. Still, Mr Gold disliked not having all the information available and Belle didn’t know what she’d do when he _really_ started digging for answers.

‘I think I should tell him,’ said Belle.

‘Tell him _what_?’ asked Snow.

‘Everything,’ Belle told her, warming to the idea. ‘About magic, about our world, about what’s happened to him.’

‘Whoa, there’s no way he’ll believe you,’ Emma said, pulling a face. ‘I didn’t until I’d seen an actual dragon.’

‘Yeah,’ Belle said, ‘but you’re…’

Emma looked at her. ‘I’m what?’

‘Stubborn.’

‘You are pretty stubborn,’ said Snow.

‘Either way,’ David interrupted. ‘Do we really want Mr Gold to know about magic?’

‘I can’t just go around lying to him!’ Belle said. They didn’t get it. How could she purposefully lie to him, keep something _that_ big from him? ‘And he’ll find out. Look at the town, everyone’s confused, it’s in chaos!’

‘We can make something up,’ David said and Belle realised he meant that _she_ could make something up.

Belle looked at their set faces and decided there was one way to win the argument.

‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I won’t tell him about magic, or about our world, on _one_ condition.’ She looked Snow in the eye; it was Snow who knew the fairies best. ‘You’ll make sure a cure is made for Rumple, as well as Sneezy.’

Snow thought that over. ‘I can’t make the Blue Fairy do that. She advisers me, not the other way around.’

That sounded like the truth, at least.

‘Then you tell me the _second_ that cure is made,’ Belle said and there would be a cure; there had to be. ‘I just got Rumple back, I’m _not_ losing him again.’

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

Belle woke to the drifting smell of coffee.

She got herself out of bed with a stubbornly determined attitude. Today, she’d make sure Mr Gold was at the shop and no one was bothering him – and hopefully he wasn’t bothering anyone else because she wasn’t sure she could do anything about that – and then go and see the Blue Fairy.

It was probably a terrible idea. What was she supposed to say?

_Excuse me, but could you please help the man who has a reputation for going around and killing your kind?_ There was simply no good way you could frame that! Fairies _were_ good though, weren’t they? And if you were good you _helped_ people in need, right? Even if helping them would be bringing back a sworn enemy…

Oh God, they’d not only refuse to help, but kick her out of the convent as well.

Belle trudged downstairs.

‘Good morning, Mr Gold,’ she said.

He looked up only briefly from where he was washing up from breakfast. ‘Morning.’

Single word answers. Mostly ignoring her. Oh, how Belle hoped they weren’t going all the way back to that. Mr Gold was still dealing with the shock of supposedly missing a year of memories though, and Belle decided to chalk it down to that.

He’d been mostly quiet after she’d returned to the shop the day before. She’d got a single piercing stare to say that he hadn’t forgotten Emma’s strange ramblings and that… had been that really. Belle had a horrible feeling he was going to try and find answers by himself.

The horrible feeling was confirmed only moments later.

Mr Gold was late to leave for the shop. Belle watched him moving around the house as she drank her tea (not from the chipped cup, she’d never forget Mr Gold saying he was going to throw it away). It _could_ be that she was just used to the curse enforced routine but…

‘Are you not going to the shop today?’ Belle blurted out.

Mr Gold turned, and frowned at her. ‘Are you not going to the library today?’ he asked, his tone clipped.

‘Um… later,’ Belle said, wondering how she was going to explain following him to the shop. Fear of Rumplestiltskin would probably keep people away from him, even once they inevitably heard that he’d crossed the town line, but Belle really didn’t want to risk it.

What if someone with a grudge against him decided he was now vulnerable?

Well. Someone. Belle was partly worried that the pirate who had once attacked her would turn up somewhere in Storybrooke. After she’d seen the Blue Fairy, she needed to speak to Emma and Snow and ask them if they’d seen him.

‘Well, since you decided it’s your business,’ Mr Gold said, and Belle tried not to wince, ‘no, I am _not_ going to the shop today. I have an appointment at the hospital.’

Belle nearly dropped her teacup, and oh, wouldn’t _that_ have been ironic. Mr Gold probably would have shouted at her.

‘The _hospital_?’

‘Belle,’ said Mr Gold, ‘I am missing nearly a year of memories. Surely such a move is less shocking and more _necessary_.’

‘Well, I suppose, but – ‘ Belle stopped, her brain catching up properly. She looked at Mr Gold, and he was giving her a hard stare.

‘It’s a nickname,’ Belle said. ‘Henry gave it to me.’

Mr Gold’s only reply was a stony silence.

‘Oh I know it’s a bit silly,’ Belle said quickly, pretending to misunderstand his obvious annoyance. ‘But Henry had this thing with his fairy tale book for a while and he started calling me Belle and Emma sort of picked it up and…’ She shrugged and watched him carefully. ‘May I come to the hospital with you?’

‘What?’ There were knives in that tone.

‘I just want to know you’re okay,’ Belle said, and that really was the truth.

‘No, you may _not_.’

Belle wanted to shout and stamp her foot. He’d been okay talking in the shop with her only the day before and now _this_. Except she knew he had to be scared, because _anyone_ in his position would be scared and Rumple… had never reacted well to being scared. In Belle’s experience, he tended to lash out.

But how was she supposed to tell if he really did want her support?

In any case, he’d turned his back on her and was leaving the room. Belle let him go. He definitely needed some space; Mr Gold had always treated her like a bit of an intrusion into his space and that… that was another reason she let him walk off. It was like a physical blow, every time he looked at her like that.

And there was no point getting mad at him about it, because it really wasn’t his fault.

She’d have to keep telling herself that.

Staying in the house any longer wasn’t appealing, so Belle set off for the convent, giving Dr Whale a call as she went.

Dr Whale. She had no idea who he’d been, back in their world, but he’d been surprisingly sympathetic over the phone. Belle had half been expected him to refuse to see Mr Gold, instead he’d said he’d make up something relatively harmless to tell him. So Mr Gold wouldn’t worry, but it might explain his symptoms and Belle was incredibly grateful for that.

Had it been anyone else, she’d have offered to buy him lunch for the gesture, but Whale had always been a shameless flirt and Belle really, _really_ wasn’t interested.

The convent, Belle realised, was technically owned by Mr Gold and she was pretty sure he hadn’t endeared himself to the nuns any more than Rumplestiltskin had to the fairies. It really was an uphill battle she was about to fight.

As it turned out, she never even got as far as the door. The Blue Fairy came out to meet her, walking briskly as if she’d rather Belle not approach the convent at all.

‘I know why you’re here, child,’ said the Blue Fairy, without preamble. ‘You want me to bring back the Dark One’s memories.’

_The Dark One._ Rumple was more than just _The Dark One_.

It wasn’t an auspicious start.

Belle squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and ploughed on anyway. Rumplestiltskin deserved to have someone fighting for him.

‘I know Rumple’s done some awful things in the past, but he’s trying to be better, he really is.’ Belle couldn’t stop herself wincing at her own words. ‘Or he was. And he’ll keep trying, if he’s allowed the chance. This was a mistake, what’s happened to him, a horrible mistake and Snow said you’re the one looking for a cure.’

The Blue Fairy was already shaking her head. ‘The Dark One…’

_Rumplestiltskin,_ Belle nearly corrected, but she was there for help and the Blue Fairy had every right to be wary of Rumple.

‘I _know_ ,’ Belle said, pouring as much feeling as she could into her words, willing the fairy to understand. ‘I really do. I was with him back in our world, I do know what he was like. And I also know that there’s a good man there, who loves deeply and gets afraid and makes mistakes just like everyone else. He tries. I know sometimes it doesn’t seem like that, but it’s true. Now, more than ever, Rumple was trying so hard not to give in to the darkness, he was really, truly, listening to me when I gave him advice.

‘And now,’ Belle faltered, closing her eyes and picturing Rumple, smiling at her before they set off for the town line. ‘Now Rumple needs my help. I can’t abandon him. I _won’t_ abandon him. He needs a cure and don’t you think everyone deserves the chance to try again? Here in Storybrooke, in the Land Without Magic, we _all_ have that chance. Please let Rumple try.’

‘He has _had_ his chance,’ the Blue Fairy insisted. ‘He has had many chances. He had a chance to give up the darkness with his son, but instead he chose the power. He did the same thing to you. The Dark One will always choose the power over those he claims to love.’

‘Not that’s…’ Belle was starting to frown now, looking at the Blue Fairy under a new light. She knew about Rumple’s son? ‘That’s not true.’

‘I’m afraid it is, child.’ Blue’s expression appeared to be sympathetic. ‘His love of his power surpassed even that he had for his-‘

‘No,’ Belle broke in, her voice rising. Rumple had travelled to the Land Without Magic to _find_ his son; had been willing to leave magic behind for the chance to see Baelfire again. ‘No, that’s a lie. Rumple let his son go because he was afraid, but he, he regretted it. I…’ Belle stared at the fairy. ‘You didn’t think I knew that. You didn’t think he’d _told_ me!’

The Blue Fairy kept looking at her with that far too kind I-know-better-than-you expression. ‘The Dark One lied to you, if that’s what he’s told you.’

‘Rumple doesn’t lie.’ Belle couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The Blue Fairy was supposed to be _good_ and kind and instead she stood there, lying to Belle’s face.

‘He twists words and changes their meaning.’

The Blue Fairy shook her head sadly, as if that were new information for Belle. As if she thought that it would have somehow escaped Belle’s notice that her True Love liked to approach any conversation diagonally.

‘You should take this opportunity,’ the Blue Fairy continued, ‘to get _away_ from all that darkness. Fate has dealt you a hard hand, Belle, but now you have a chance to change your future into something bright and new.’ She paused and Belle could only stare at her; the fairy who was supposed to fix happy endings. Who was supposed to be good. ‘Even if there is a cure… I will not provide one for the Dark One, it is my duty to stay in the light, not aid the darkness.’

‘His name,’ Belle said, her voice shaking as she took a step away from the convent, ‘is Rumplestiltskin.’

 

_____________________________

Belle sat in Granny’s diner, picking at the remnants of the hamburger in front of her.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

She was supposed to be in New York, helping Rumple get his happy ending. Reuniting him with his son and living the life he’d told her he wanted, out in the world rebuilding his relationship with Baelfire. She’d have already seen some of the world beyond and would be getting the feel of the Land Without Magic alongside her True Love.

Instead, she was doing… what?

Going around town finding out how no one wanted to help Rumple.

‘Hey.’ Ruby sat down opposite her. She bit her lip. ‘I heard about Rumplestiltskin.’

Oh god, no, not again. Ruby had warned her against staying with _Mr Gold_ , what would Red think about Rumplestiltskin? Nothing good, not when she was Snow White’s best friend.

‘I’m sorry,’ Belle said, and meant it, ‘but if you’re here to tell me that it’s my lucky break and I should get out now, then please… just don’t.’ She was amazed when her voice stayed steady.

‘Oh.’ Something in Ruby’s eyes said that Belle was right.

Belle started to slide out of the chair. ‘I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later.’

‘Belle, no.’ Ruby put a hand on her arm, her face falling. ‘Stay. How about I get you a hot chocolate, on the house?’

‘That sounds…’ Belle managed a smile and sat back down. ‘That sounds wonderful, thanks Ruby.’ She put a hand to her mouth, realising her mistake. ‘Oh, sorry, I mean _Red_.’

Red shrugged. ‘Nah, Ruby’s fine. I’ve always been Ruby in Storybrooke and, you know, I kinda like it?’

‘Okay, Ruby it is then.’

Belle leaned back in the chair, wondering how Mr Gold’s hospital visit had been. Even if Dr Whale had been good about it, there were probably nurses in there who’d refuse to go anywhere near Rumple. Even though he wasn’t Rumple. Grimacing, Belle hoped he’d gone to the shop straight after. There were still so many missing person fliers around, all with their Enchanted Forest names on them and she’d promised not to explain to Mr Gold…

Although she wasn’t sure that promise still stood, given the Blue Fairy’s stance on helping him. Even if she _did_ find a cure, and Snow _did_ go straight to Belle and tell her about it, the Blue Fairy would never give such a thing to Belle.

If she did tell him… Mr Gold was already stressed by the memory loss. Belle wasn’t sure it was any fairer to tell him than it was to keep him in the dark.

Ruby came back, setting the promised hot chocolate in front of Belle.

‘Listen,’ she said, ‘I’m really sorry…’

‘Don’t be,’ Belle said, feeling a bit sorry herself for being so abrupt. Like Snow and David, Ruby was only trying to help. It was just… she didn’t want to hear it. They didn’t understand. ‘Everyone’s saying it.’

‘Yeah.’ Ruby leaned on the table. ‘I’m _really_ sorry. Honestly, Belle, I hope it works out for you. If there’s anyone who could break through the whole memory loss thing, it’s your boyfriend.’

Belle couldn’t help smiling. Rumplestiltskin; her boyfriend.

Emma brushed through the door and made her way over. ‘Hey, Belle, do you have a second?’

‘Uh, sure.’

Ruby took a step back from the table. ‘I’ll see you around. Good luck with everything.’

‘Thanks.’

Emma sat down across from her. ‘So I’ve been asking around about that pirate guy you were talking about. The one with the hook?’ Emma grimaced, ever so slightly as she said it, a sure sign she was thinking about fairy tales.

Belle went through a mental checklist in her head. ‘Oh! Captain Hook.’

That really did make Emma pull a face. ‘I don’t know. You didn’t mention a perm or waxed moustache. Anyway, as far as I can tell he’s not here. In fact, no one even seems to have _heard_ of the guy.’

That was good news. Belle welcomed it.

‘Have you asked the Evil Queen? It was in her castle that I saw him.’

Emma’s face screwed up again. ‘Can you call her Regina? Or Mayor Mills? Or… I don’t know, something else?’

Belle sighed. ‘She’s the Evil Queen.’

‘I know.’ Emma brushed some hair out of her face. ‘And I just broke a curse. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. No, I haven’t asked Regina yet, she kind of broke out of jail.’

‘ _What_?’ The only reason Belle didn’t jump to her feet was because she was hemmed in by the booth.

‘With… magic.’ Emma didn’t look too worried. ‘She’s having trouble using it though, which is good. That’s actually what I was coming to Gold about. He said he brought magic and yet Regina didn’t seem to be using it and Mary Margaret was worrying so…’

‘And now she has,’ Belle noted. ‘Aren’t you worried about Henry?’

She was worried about Mr Gold. Henry _was_ the Evil Queen’s son and Rumple had taken the True Love potion off the Evil Queen, as well as Emma.

‘Hell, yes.’ Emma took a deep breath. ‘Mary Margaret and David both agree she’s still having trouble with it though, so he’s safe for the moment.’ She paused. ‘I don’t suppose you could take it away again?’

Belle shook her head. ‘I don’t know how to do that. I don’t even know if it’s possible.’

Even if it had been… she couldn’t imagine waking Rumple to tell him she’d taken his way of finding his son.

‘Yeah, didn’t think so,’ Emma said. ‘Are you having any luck with Gold’s memories?’

‘Rumple’s memories,’ Belle corrected automatically, ‘and not yet. The, uh, the Blue Fairy won’t help me.’

Emma frowned. ‘I thought fairies were supposed to help everyone?’

‘Me too,’ said Belle, aware that she sounded bitter. ‘Rumple has a bit of a history with them.’ She sighed. ‘And everyone else.’

‘Not me. He helped me, sort of, in a really roundabout stressful kind of a way.’ Emma offered a smile. ‘And I was thinking, he remembered before everyone else before, didn’t he tell you what woke him up?’

‘It was when you came into town,’ Belle admitted. ‘And you’re already here.’

‘Oh, well, if you want me to drive out of town and then back again, I can give it a go.’

‘No. Um. No, but thanks for the offer.’

Emma stood up. ‘Any time.'

And Belle felt just that little bit lighter.

 

_____________________________

She’d dosed Mr Gold’s coffee that morning.

Belle felt more than a little guilty about it, because he’d pulled a face, examined the cup and checked he’d used the right packet… but he’d drunk it anyway. The powder had come from his shop, Belle had found it and recognised it from the book she was reading (also stolen from the shop – Rumple had shown her where the books on magic were).

It was _supposed_ to aid memory.

As far as she could tell, it hadn’t had an effect.

Going to the front of the library, Belle peered out towards the pawnshop. She could bring him lunch, and make sure he was okay.

The powder probably _hadn’t_ done anything, but it certainly hadn’t helped his memory and Belle was wondering if maybe she’d got the wrong thing. She was about to move back to the desk, when the Evil Queen marched around the corner of the shop and quickly ducked inside the pawnshop.

‘Oh no,’ said Belle and scrambled for the library door.

She jogged across the street in her heels. What did the Evil Queen want with Mr Gold? Revenge? To steal something from his shop? It couldn’t end well…

And there were already raised voices inside. Belle threw opened the door.

The Evil Queen was standing in front of Mr Gold, leaning on the desk and getting right in his face.

‘Don’t play stupid with me! You know very well _which book!_ I know I can do it, I just need a shortcut back; I don’t care what you want for it!’

_She doesn’t even know_ , Belle thought. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of any safe way to keep it like that.

Mr Gold didn’t look particularly bothered by the shouting. ‘This isn’t the first time you’ve had one of these little outbursts, Regina, and you were a little stressed at the time. Perhaps losing your position in this town has hit you harder than you think.’ He leaned over to look around Regina. ‘Just a moment, Miss French, I’m sure our irate friend will be leaving soon.’

The Evil Queen slammed a hand down on the counter. ‘Give me the book!’

‘Under normal circumstances,’ Mr Gold said, not moving an inch, ‘I would direct you to the library. But I seriously doubt Miss French will be inclined to help you.’

‘Definitely not,’ Belle said, moving forward while also trying to give the Queen a wide berth. She might be having problems with magic, but she still had it. And Lacey French would avoid Regina Mills.

‘What are you…?’ The Evil Queen was beginning to look confused, any second it was going to dawn on her.

‘Regina,’ said Mr Gold with a sigh, ‘please leave my shop.’

The Evil Queen smirked, holding her ground. ‘Well how about that. Your ‘pleases’ have lost their punch.’

Mr Gold stopped, and clearly had to think about that one. ‘What?’

The meaning was also lost on Belle, but whatever it was, Belle was fairly sure it didn’t apply to Mr Gold. Emma had been easy to pull to one side and explain, the Evil Queen was a bit harder, even if she had been sure it was something the Queen should know. Belle positioned herself at the counter, uncomfortably close to the Evil Queen, hopefully getting Mr Gold’s attention.

‘Hey, I was wondering – ‘

‘In a moment, Lacey,’ said Mr Gold, brusquely, making Belle wince. He turned back to the Evil Queen. ‘Regina, I really must insist you leave.’

The Evil Queen’s mouth had dropped open. ‘You,’ she said slowly, ‘You were planning a trip.’

A muscle in Mr Gold’s face twitched and Belle tried to think of a way, _any way_ to make the Queen leave.

‘You don’t know what I’m talking about,’ the Evil Queen continued. ‘You _really_ don’t know what I’m talking about. Again.’

Mr Gold’s eyebrows rose. ‘Well, I’m certainly glad that’s been established.’

‘Oh this is just…’ The Evil Queen scowled. ‘Unbelievable. I need that book and _you…_ probably don’t even know you own it. _You_ of all people! You didn’t think a dwarf running through town screaming ‘terrible news!’ was a bad sign? What were you _thinking_?’ She stepped back from the counter and moved towards the back of the shop. ‘I’ll just have to find it myself.’

Belle was already moving, blocking her way through the curtain. ‘Mr Gold asked you to leave.’

‘Listen, bookworm,’ the Evil Queen snarled, ‘I don’t care what _Mr Gold_ said. And you will stand aside, or I’ll make you regret it.’

‘I don’t think you can,’ Belle replied, folding her arms.

There was an ominous click from behind them, that Belle couldn’t quite place.

‘Regina,’ Mr Gold said, levelling the gun, ‘you _will_ leave my shop.’

The Evil Queen paused as Belle got herself out of the line of fire.

‘ _Now_ ,’ said Mr Gold.

The Queen lifted a hand, and nothing happened. With a single glare back in Belle’s direction, she stormed out of the shop.

Mr Gold rested the gun on the counter. ‘Now,’ he said; business-like, calm. ‘Lacey.’

‘I, um.’ Belle had decided what she was going to say, but she didn’t know if he was going to like it. ‘I was wondering if you’d like to grab a coffee, with, uh, with me.’

Brown eyes flicked up to stare at her in obvious surprise, then Mr Gold’s expression shut down into a blank mask.

‘And would an explanation be served with that?’

‘An explanation of what?’ Belle asked, trying to mentally organise the growing list of things he could be talking about.

Mr Gold let out a soft laugh that suggested he didn’t actually find it very funny. ‘A good question, Miss French, a _very_ good question. But we’ll start with _this_.’ He reached under the desk again and this time produced a piece of paper, which he handed to her. ‘You walked past a copy of one of these yesterday and stopped and read it, so kindly do not try and lie to me. And if you’re wondering how I got a personal copy of it, well that would have been my _first_ angry visitor this morning.’

The paper was a missing person notice – for her.

Belle swallowed. ‘That’s… that would have been…’

‘Your father. Oh yes, he was very clear about that.’

She hadn’t gone to see her papa, even though she knew she _must_ and mostly that had been because she’d known he would try and get her away from Mr Gold. The proof that she had family was probably the least of her problems though: the poster had _Belle_ written on it.

‘Mr Gold…’

‘Is that a lie I can see you trying to think up? I suspect it is.’ Mr Gold still appeared calm enough, except for the muscle twitching in his cheek. ‘Belle. Do you know yours is not the only one sporting a name that does not match the face? No. Don’t answer that. I know you do.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Belle said softly. ‘I didn’t know what to do. We’ve actually… we’ve already been through this, but you don’t remember and I don’t know where to start.’

‘Yeah? That is _fascinating_ , Miss French.’ Now Mr Gold’s knuckles were white as he held his cane. ‘Until you can figure out how to stop lying to me, you, too, can _get out of my shop_.’

The worst thing was; he had a point. She could tell him. She could stand there and explain everything and then get thrown out for lying, but he’d eventually figure out she was telling the truth. And of course, then Mr Gold would figure out he had magic. _If_ he did have magic.

Belle wasn’t sure how that would go, because didn’t you need training to use magic? Yet at the same time, she felt she couldn’t take a potentially dangerous step like that without at least warning Snow and David. It wouldn’t be fair after she’d promised them otherwise.

Belle left the shop.

And headed for the well.

It was a long trek and yet worth it. Her and Rumple had used the well to bring back magic and he’d said that it restored that which was lost, like the waters of Lake Nostos. There wasn’t a lot of hope that it would help Rumple, because otherwise he would have just tried giving some to her when he’d thought she was Lacey, but Belle had to try.

She’d make him coffee when he got home and act like it was a peace offering of some sort. 

Belle crossed her fingers.

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

There were _so many ways_ to aid memory recorded in Rumple’s magic books, but most of them needed her to _have_ magic.

The well water hadn’t worked, either to bring back Rumple, or as a peace offering to Mr Gold. He’d taken the coffee and then questioned what she was still doing in his house, given that she had a father. Still, he hadn’t actually thrown her out yet, which was good.

Belle _knew_ she could move into the apartment above the library and it would be easier and she wouldn’t be having constant fights with Mr Gold, but True Love wasn’t supposed to be easy. Belle wanted to stay with Rumple, she wanted to help Rumple and there _was_ some of Rumple in Mr Gold; quite a lot some days.

She didn’t want to leave him. The more she heard other people say about him, the more Belle felt the need to protect him. If the heroes were cautioning her that they might be better off… well, not _everyone_ in Storybrooke was a hero. What would the rest of them do?

Henry came in, and Belle smiled at him, a little cautiously.

She hadn’t spoken to Henry since August had revealed that Belle’s Beast was Rumplestiltskin.

‘Hi,’ said Henry, a little sheepishly, which was unusual for him. ‘I’m really sorry about Rumplestiltskin. And I’m sorry what I said about him, he can’t be that bad; if he’s your True Love.’

‘Thank you, Henry,’ Belle said. ‘I’m doing everything I can to bring him back.’

Henry came up to the desk. ‘Why were you leaving?’

‘What?’ Belle asked, pleased Henry was talking to her again. She _liked_ Henry, she had from the moment he’d come into her library wondering why nothing ever changed in Storybrooke.

‘You and Rumplestiltskin. You were leaving Storybrooke, that’s how you crossed the town line, right?’

‘Yeah, we…’ Belle wasn’t sure Rumple had wanted people knowing about his son and Henry… well, he was ten. He’d pass it on. ‘I wanted to see the world and Rumple had a few things he wanted to fix.’

‘The Blue Fairy will figure it out,’ said Henry, with that boundless confidence he’d always shown despite Emma’s stubbornness.

‘The Blue Fairy won’t help Rumple,’ Belle admitted, not really wanting to go into it. Henry certainly didn’t need her troubles.

‘Oh.’ Henry frowned. ‘Because he’s the Dark One?’

‘Yes,’ Belle said. ‘But I’ll find a way.’

‘Won’t his magic help him remember?’ Henry asked. ‘He remembered before Emma broke the curse. I know magic’s been different for mom, but she’s worked out how to use it again, so-‘

‘Wait.’ Belle felt cold. ‘The Evil Queen can use her magic?’

‘Yeah, she figured it out. Mostly.’ Henry looked down at his shoes. ‘Don’t worry, she’s said she won’t use it.’

‘The Evil Queen said she _won’t_ use magic?’ Belle asked. ‘Henry, she was at the pawnshop just a few days ago trying to get hold of a magic book.’

‘Yeah, but now she’s trying to change,’ Henry insisted. ‘She thought she could use magic to keep me there, but then David came and she agreed that she’d try to prove that she can be a good person. She’s not going to use magic.’

Belle frowned, finding it hard to believe for a moment. Then again… What had she been finding all week? That no one really wanted to help Rumple; that they all believed he was evil, when Rumple was actually, deep down, a _good_ man, who loved her… and his son. The Evil Queen _did_ love Henry; she’d fought Emma as much for Henry as she had for the curse.

‘Do you think she _can_ change?’ Belle asked Henry. Sometimes children could be the best judge of character.

Henry scuffed a shoe along the ground. ‘I hope so. She’s still my mom.’

‘And she can use magic?’ Belle asked slowly, an idea coming to her. It was probably a bad idea and yet Belle found she couldn’t dismiss it. ‘Henry… if your mom were to use only a little bit of magic, for a good cause, that wouldn’t count as her breaking her word, would it?’

‘For something good?’ Henry shook his head, and then smiled at Belle. ‘Nope, that would be _light_ magic.’

Belle smiled too; Henry had always been perceptive. ‘Thanks, Henry.’

‘No problem!’ Henry left the library again and Belle turned back to Rumple’s books on magic.

She’d read a few already, but this time Belle went back through them more carefully, bookmarking pages as she went.

____________________________

 

By the time Belle made it to the Evil Queen’s mansion, she had too large bags filled with books. She carefully put one on the floor as she reached for the doorbell, pushing down the nerves. The Evil Queen had no reason to take her captive again; she was useless leverage against Mr Gold and if (when) Rumple woke he’d suspect her straight away.

And Belle wouldn’t be able to stop him taking revenge if that happened.

The door opened to reveal the Queen staring down at her with annoyed eyes. ‘What do you want, bookworm?’

Belle looked her squarely in the eye. ‘Your help.’

‘ _My_ help? And why would I help you?’ the Queen sneered.

‘I don’t know,’ Belle said, keeping her voice level. ‘Maybe you won’t. What I do know is that you’re the only person who wasn’t happy to find Rumple gone.’

It wasn’t _exactly_ true. Emma hadn’t been _happy_ and Ruby had ended up being nice about it, but it was the Evil Queen who’d actually been annoyed. Belle had no idea what kind of weird friendship Rumple and the Queen had once had; she just hoped it was enough to get the Queen’s help.

If it was… she was going to be working _with_ the Evil Queen. Belle swallowed. It was a bad idea, but it was too late to back out now.

The Queen took a step forward. ‘You want me to get _Rumplestiltskin_ to remember again? It can’t be done.’

‘I won’t believe that,’ Belle told her, hope rising. She’d hadn’t had the door slammed in her face yet so maybe she’d been right. Maybe the Queen _did_ want Rumple back. Belle lifted the bags of books. ‘I’ve found _dozens_ of different memory spells, but I can’t cast any of them.’

The Queen’s expression shut down. ‘Well, it might have escaped your attention since you’ve been holed up in your library, but I’m not using magic. I want my son back, far more than I want to speak to Rumplestiltskin.’

‘But you _do_ want to speak to Rumple?’

‘No, actually,’ the Queen said slowly. ‘I don’t need his help now. He deals in dark magic, he always has. Right now, that’s the _last_ thing I need.’

‘I spoke to Henry,’ Belle said, hoping to redirect the Queen’s attention. ‘He said using magic to help someone would be _light_ magic.’

‘How about that? It seems everyone can speak to my son but me.’ She turned away. ‘Shoo, bookworm, I don’t want you here. You seem to have forgotten it’s partly Rumple’s fault that I lost Henry; Rumple turned on me. He helped to break the curse, he _wanted_ it broken.’

Gathering up all her courage, Belle stepped forward, into the doorway. ‘You’d lost your son before the curse broke.’

The Evil Queen whipped back around. ‘ _What_ did you say?’

‘Henry knew who you are; the _Evil_ Queen. Before the curse broke, he left town to find Emma. It’s not Rumple’s fault Henry left, but you can still get Henry back. You and Emma can _both_ be his mothers.’

Belle was still not entirely sure that was a good idea, but Henry seemed to want her mother to have a chance and she figured that he should have a say in that. As for what Emma would say… Belle had no idea, but after everything the Evil Queen had done to her, Belle found she didn’t feel particularly guilty at the idea of using her.

‘And Rumple would help me with that?’ The Queen leant forward. ‘I think not.’

‘Probably not,’ Belle agreed, fighting her instincts to flinch back. ‘But I’m asking for your help anyway. The fairies won’t help me, and you’re the next best magic user that I know of.’

The Queen snorted. ‘Of course the fairies wouldn’t help _him_. A fairy helping the Dark One? Hardly.’

Belle folded her arms. ‘And you owe me. You said you’re trying to be better? Well you captured me and locked me up. Prove to Henry that you’re being better and _help me_.’

At first the Queen didn’t answer and this time, Belle let the silence hang between them.

‘Does Henry listen to you?’ The Evil Queen asked suddenly.

‘I like to think so,’ Belle said. ‘He likes reading, he used to come into the library a lot.’

The Evil Queen sniffed. ‘Then you’re very lucky, because right now I do need anything I can get for Henry to see me doing something _good_. This is not about you and it’s definitely not about Rumplestiltskin, do you understand me? I’m not doing it for him. You make sure you tell Rumple that, if it works. I’m not doing this to help _him_.’

Belle smiled. ‘I’ll keep that in mind, your majesty.’

The Queen’s eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t call me that.’

‘What should I call you?’  Belle asked. Rumple had called her _your majesty_ when he’d been trying to annoy her, but Belle had just assumed that was because the curse hadn’t been broken yet.

The Evil Queen paused. ‘‘Regina’ is fine. Now let me look at those spells.’

Belle heaved one of the bags at her. ‘The ones in here are the most promising. It’s a bit tricky, because we can’t just get him to stand still and cast magic over him, so I’ve tried to find anything that mentions touching an object, or making a potion I can put in his drink or a powder…’

‘Hmm. Already spiking your True Love’s food.’ The Evil Queen – _Regina_ – walked back into her house, carrying the bag. ‘Well, I suppose there had to be _something_ to you.’

Belle followed her and met her gaze. ‘Actually I’ve been spiking his coffee, not his food.’

She was in the Evil Queen’s house. Years of being held captive, followed by months of trying desperately to avoid her, and now she was in the Evil Queen’s house and Rumple wasn’t around to help her. Belle resisted the urge to run. She was there _because_ Rumple wasn’t.

‘Whatever.’ Regina had dug a book out of the bag and was flicking it open to the bookmarked page. ‘This is… oh, really? Have you seen how many ingredients this needs? Rumple won’t have bothered to bring half of these…’ She tossed the book aside and took up another one.

Belle watched her with growing interest. _Not doing it for Rumplestiltskin,_ huh? Whatever enmity the Queen and Rumple had, Belle was sure she’d been right that there was some odd kind of friendship there too.

Before long they were both sat at Regina’s table, although not next to each other, with books scattered across it. A pile sat on the floor of books where Regina insisted the solution _couldn’t be done_. In some cases, Belle suspected that it was just that _Regina_ couldn’t do them, but she didn’t mention it. Regina was helping her, truly, actually, putting her money where her mouth was, and _helping_.

Belle wished she could have found someone else. She’d been through it a dozen times. The Blue Fairy had made herself _very_ clear and Snow and David… Belle wasn’t sure if she could have convinced them and it didn’t matter because neither of them had magic.

From the books Belle had managed to look through there were four really promising solutions. One that was supposed to make someone recover buried memories (perfect) as they slept the night after they’d taken the potion… but that potion took a week to brew _and_ Belle was going to have to steal some ingredients both from Mr Gold’s shop and his house. Another was a powder that was supposed to help someone come to a ‘great realisation’ about themself. Regina had said she could make it up within a day, although Belle thought it was a bit too vague and was hoping she could find something better.

The third one was a potion, brewed relatively easily, infused with magic that was supposed to _improve_ memory. Not exactly what they were looking for, but it seemed harmless enough. The fourth was a spell, which was again supposed to uncover memories and was a bit awkward, because Regina would need to get near Mr Gold and cast the spell without him noticing.

Belle had reluctantly agreed to let her into the house while Mr Gold was sleeping. _That_ wasn’t ideal either, far from it. If he woke up… but once again, it was the best she had.

Eventually Regina kicked her out, and Belle went willingly. It was still a little chilling, having Regina look directly at her. It reminded her of the hospital basement.

Still, Belle told herself that was behind them, and now she had an ally to help Rumple. It wasn’t the good fairy she’d been hoping for, but in some ways it was better. Regina might be the Evil Queen, someone who Belle doubted she’d ever truly trust and yet…

She was an ally who, denials aside, actually did want Rumple back.

____________________________

 

Mr Gold stumbled down the stairs far, far later than usual and Belle found herself watching him carefully.

She’d let Regina into the house the night before. It had been… difficult to say the least. Regina hadn’t bothered being as quiet as Belle would have liked and the idea of Mr Gold waking up to find Regina leaning over him with glowing hands had had Belle twitching the whole time.

It hadn’t helped that Regina had laughed at Belle’s nervousness.

Of course, now all she had to do was wait and see if it had been worth it.

He went straight into the kitchen and Belle was pretty sure he hadn’t even seen her.

‘Rumple?’ she hedged.

‘Hmm?’ he asked, and for a second her heart leapt, then he blinked at her blearily. ‘What was that?’

‘How are you this morning?’ Belle asked, chickening out.

He grunted. ‘Do I look that bad, then?’ He didn’t wait for her to respond and Belle’s heart sank. ‘I suppose I do.’ Mr Gold pulled open a cupboard door and squinted into it. ‘Lacey, tell me there is still aspirin left.’

Belle tried to swallow her disappointment and found it replaced by worry. What had Regina _done_ to him?

‘To your right,’ she told him.

‘Ah. Thanks.’ Mr Gold swallowed the pills and started limping back towards the stairs. ‘I will be spending the day in bed. If I wake up without any memories, kindly sue Dr Whale for negligence.’

‘I’ll… I’ll do that,’ Belle said, wondering if she should call Regina. Only Regina would do _what_ exactly? Try and cast another spell? While he was _awake_? Maybe. In Belle’s opinion the Evil Queen needed a lesson or two about subtlety and caution.

Mr Gold just grunted in reply and disappeared up the stairs.

Belle settled herself down in the living room with a book. There was absolutely no way she was leaving for the library when Mr Gold wasn’t well, _particularly_ not when it was at least partly her fault.

After a while, she found the book wasn’t helping her edginess. Would Mr Gold be annoyed if she went up to check on him? He’d let her help him before, after he’d been maced by… but no. That had been Rumple, hadn’t it? Only she hadn’t known it at the time.

She didn’t want to crowd Mr Gold. He clearly valued his personal space, and she was already living in his house and he _could_ have thrown her out. He’d found out she was lying _and_ that she had a father and still he hadn’t told her to go. Belle liked to think that was her Rumple, shining through, just a little.

It still wasn’t fair to crowd him. He didn’t _know_ her and as much as that stung, Belle had to keep reminding herself that things were hard for him too. Mr Gold was so… so _isolated_. To find yourself missing memories, in a town where almost everyone stared at you with hostile eyes, it must be awful for him.

And his current illness really was her fault.

Belle started up the stairs.

She paused in front of his door and knocked.

For a moment there was nothing and Belle’s heart caught in her throat. He could be very sick, maybe Regina had made a mistake…

‘Yes, what?’ snapped Mr Gold’s voice from inside the room.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Belle opened the door, blinking a little to focus in the dark room. Mr Gold was sitting up in bed, wearing long sleeved pyjamas, his hair slightly ruffled, scowling and looking quite pale. Belle wanted to go over and sit at the side of the bed, hug him and be hugged back.

‘What did you _want_ , Miss French?’ Mr Gold asked, not too loudly, but still with plenty of bite in his tone.

‘I… I wanted to see if you needed anything,’ Belle said, willing him to say yes. She’d been failing at bringing Rumple back, failing at trying to convince Mr Gold that everything was normal. She just wanted to do _something_ for him.

‘Yes, as a matter of fact,’ Mr Gold said, and Belle would have been hopeful if it wasn’t for his tone. ‘I want you to leave me alone. Don’t you have a library to run?’

Belle sighed. ‘Yes, Mr Gold, I do, and I will go and run it. Are you _sure_ there’s nothing you need?’

He swiped a strand of hair out of his face. ‘I can manage just fine by myself, although recently you seem to think otherwise. You, who are only here because you sought refuge from Regina. So, Miss French, _no_ I do not need your help.’

‘I know you can manage,’ Belle said quietly. ‘But sometimes it’s nice not to have to do everything yourself.’

‘Good _bye_ , Miss French,’ said Mr Gold.

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

Regina stood next to Rumple’s spinning wheel, weaving some kind of magic on to it. Theoretically, the spell was supposed to be woven onto an item of great importance to the person who’s memory you were trying to restore. And then they had to look at it.

Well, Mr Gold frequently frowned at the spinning wheel and it had _definitely_ been important to Rumple, so Belle thought it was her best bet. She wanted to try the chipped cup, which Mr Gold now knew she used, but it would be harder to get him to pay attention to it. Unless you counted occasionally scowling at her for using it.

Belle wasn’t sure she liked the Evil Queen casting a spell on Rumple’s spinning wheel, particularly not after the spell she’d cast in his sleep. Mr Gold had, true to his, word, stayed in bed all day, but he’d seemed okay the day after. Still, the next spell and the spinning wheel was what they had and it was getting harder and harder staying with Mr Gold when he knew _nothing_ about who she really was.

It was a bit like living with a ghost, although it was better than it had been during the curse. Mr Gold had been a ghost of Rumple then too and trapped in the same routine _all the time_. Everyone had been; Belle remembered struggling not to do the same herself.

‘How did you do it?’ she asked Regina.

‘Do what, bookworm?’ Regina rested one hand on top of the wheel.

‘Live in this _town_ ,’ Belle said, waving a hand to encompass Storybrooke in general. ‘With everyone cursed, for twenty-eight years.’

Regina went still. ‘It was fine. It was my revenge. It was what _I_ wanted.’

‘Really?’ Belle asked, picturing Mr Gold drinking his coffee, looking right through her. ‘But you knew so many of them, and suddenly no one really knew you. And time was still, and everyone was doing the same things over and over again, I don’t… It’s hard enough just living with Mr Gold and I can go out and talk to Ruby and Emma and Leroy.’

‘I had Henry.’ Regina wasn’t looking at her.

Belle nodded, deciding to speak to Emma for her. Emma had let Regina see Henry once or twice since Regina had promised not to use magic (except to help Belle, but that was Henry’s decision), but Belle thought Regina was _really_ trying and she hadn’t thought of it before but… Regina had tried to get her revenge, and she’d ended up with cursed Storybrooke.

Twenty eight years to think about things was probably more than enough to get a change in perspective, particularly if you’d spent a lot of that time raising a son, only to lose him.

She didn’t like Regina, was working with her out of necessity, but what had she said to the Blue Fairy? Everyone deserved a second chance. Rumple had done more than his fair share of evil things and yet Belle knew he was a good man who needed help. Well she hadn’t seen anything good in Regina yet, but neither could Snow or David see anything good in Rumple.

What kind of person would she be if she went around insisting it was right to help Rumple, while refusing to give Regina a chance?

They both wanted their sons back.

Oblivious to Belle’s inner struggle, Regina gave a short laugh. ‘Although I did wonder about Mr Gold sometimes. It was hard to believe that he really _didn’t_ know. Now I realise he just didn’t _want_ to be awake for those twenty eight years.’ She paused, finishing the spell on the spinning wheel. ‘I don’t know what _did_ wake him up, come to think of it.’

‘When Emma came to town,’ Belle said, then paused to think about it. ‘Or when Emma decided to stay and time started… I’m not sure.’

‘I have no idea how he managed that.’ Regina dusted off her hands, frowning. ‘The bastard was stuck in his cage when I cast the curse.’

‘So he wrote something into it,’ said Belle, trying very hard not to picture the cage.

‘Not that I noticed,’ Regina said.

‘Uh, no offence,’ Belle said, ‘but…’

‘Yes, I know. He’s more powerful than I am.’ Regina almost seemed to be smiling. ‘And more sneaky. Maybe we could use that… although, seeing that the _Saviour_ is already in town and time has restarted…’

‘I know,’ Belle said. ‘I’ve already been thinking about that. And I tried the water from the well.’

‘If this continues much longer I’ll be trying marching up to him and telling him to knock it off,’ Regina said. ‘Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to be talking to those… those _heroes_ all the time? But then I suppose you think you’re one of them.’

‘I’d feel more like one of them if they’d help me with Rumple,’ Belle muttered. She _did_ like Snow and David… when she wasn’t trying to talk about Rumple with them.

‘Ha! Good luck.’ Regina started heading for the door. ‘ _They_ locked him in the cage, remember?’

‘ _You_ locked _me_ up,’ Belle said evenly and thought; _and yet here we are._

‘That wasn’t personal,’ Regina said shortly.

‘No, I know.’ Belle folded her arms. Did Regina really think she didn’t know why? ‘You just wanted to use me against Rumple, I’m not sure if that actually makes it _worse_.’

Regina brushed through the curtain and headed for the side door, while Belle followed after, annoyed.

‘For what it’s worth,’ Regina said, ‘I _am_ sorry.’ She pushed open the door. ‘After all, he nearly killed me for it.’

_____________________________

 

‘Hey, Belle,’ Emma came into the library and stopped at the desk.

‘Oh, Emma. Hi.’ Belle had been miles away. She was planning to bring Mr Gold lunch from Granny’s, take it into his shop… and see if he’d looked at the spinning wheel yet.

Emma glanced over at the shelves. ‘I was just going to choose some books for Henry. Although I’m not that sure where to start, do you have, I don’t know, recommendations or something? I’m guessing fantasy for the dragons and magic and stuff because Henry _still_ somehow thinks it’s cool, but…’ She shrugged.

Belle leaned forward on her desk, looking thoughtfully at Emma. ‘Did you know Henry came in yesterday and took out a few books? I wouldn’t have thought he’d read them all just yet.’

‘Did he?’ Emma’s shoulders slumped. ‘Damn.’

There was something about Emma that suggested this wasn’t just about Henry. She certainly wasn’t making any moves to leave.

‘Did you… want to talk about something?’ Belle asked.

‘Not really.’ Emma took a seat. ‘It’s nothing. I mean… it’s just Mary Margaret and David.’

Belle frowned. ‘Your parents?’

‘Yeah. Exactly.’ Emma sighed. ‘They keep wanting me to act like their daughter.’

‘But you are their daughter.’

‘I know, I know.’ Emma closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘But they don’t _feel_ like my parents. Even just ignoring everything about _fairy tales_ and _magic_ they’re the same age as me! Mary Margaret was my friend for nearly a year before the curse broke and now I’m just supposed to see her as my _mother_?’ Emma grimaced, subsiding a little.

Belle hadn’t thought about that; about how hard it must be for Emma. The curse had done so much damage, and it was the fault of her True Love and her current ally. Belle winced. But Rumple had done it out of desperation to find his son and Regina… well, it was definitely Regina’s fault. Belle reminded herself that she was trying to change and Belle honestly believed that was the best a person could do.

Emma brushed her hair out of her face. ‘Do you mind if I hide in here for a few minutes. I could really use a break.’

‘Of course you can,’ Belle said. ‘And if you want to talk about it…’

‘Yeah, not really,’ said Emma. ‘Like I said, I just need a break and Henry’s at school so I can’t just take him out somewhere and, okay, Mary Margaret’s with him, but David’s still at home and-’ Emma pulled a face ‘-I think he’s trying to do some father-daughter bonding time.’

Belle gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘And you’d really like to avoid that.’

‘Yeah.’ Emma blew out a sharp breath. ‘Okay, change of subject; how’re you doing with Mr Gold?’

‘Well,’ Belle said, tracing a pattern on the book cover in front of her with her finger, ‘he’s still Mr Gold.’

‘That’s tough,’ Emma said and seemed to mean it. Belle was _trying_ not to be suspicious of comments like that, but after what everyone had said about Rumple…

‘I’ll get him back,’ Belle said. ‘At least I feel like I have more of a chance now with R-‘

Belle cut herself off quickly. She didn’t know if Emma knew about Regina’s help. _Henry_ had agreed that he thought it was okay, but Emma… Belle had no idea what Emma would think about it.

‘Now Regina’s helping you?’ Emma smiled, leaning forward. ‘Henry told me.’

‘Oh.’ Belle ducked her head. ‘Well, most the possible solutions I’ve found need magic and…’ She shrugged. ‘She’s the only one with magic.’

‘And the nuns won’t help you,’ Emma said. ‘Mother Superior came to speak to Mary Margaret about it.’

Belle carefully folded her hands on the desk in front of her. ‘And what did they say?’

‘Mother Superior was going to stop looking for a cure for Mr Clark,’ Emma said, looking apologetic, ‘in case it was used for Mr Gold, but Mary Margaret convinced her to keep looking.’

Belle pressed her lips together, her hand tightening on the book in front of her.

‘Sorry,’ Emma added.

‘It’s not your fault,’ Belle muttered. It was at least partly Rumple’s fault and yet… now that he was in the Land Without Magic, he only wanted to find his son. He didn’t want to bother any of them. He wanted to leave Storybrooke, with her, and try and patch up his broken family. Was _that_ evil?

‘So… is Regina actually helping?’

‘Yes,’ Belle said, trying not to think about the Blue Fairy. ‘Yes, she really is. And, Emma, I honestly think she’s trying her best to change for Henry. If you could give her some more time with him…'

Emma’s expression hardened a bit. ‘I don’t know, Belle. I’m willing to give her a chance, I mean, _I_ got a second chance… but I worry about Henry.’

‘Well,’ Belle said, choosing her words carefully, ‘what does Henry think?’

‘He thinks that…’ Emma glanced towards the door. ‘Okay, so he wouldn’t mind spending more time with her. He agrees that she’s trying… but Belle, she’s the _Evil Queen_ and that’s _nuts_.’

‘Yes she is, I know that, believe me. And I think she’s also more than that,’ Belle said, ‘she _is_ helping me with Mr Gold. More than that, I’m certain that she really does love Henry.’ Emma was still pulling a face so Belle ploughed on; ‘I’m not saying she’s perfect, Emma, just that I think everyone deserves a second chance.’

‘I know.’ Emma was nodding. ‘Like I said, I’m getting a second chance, so I _am_ giving her more time with Henry.’

‘I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,’ Belle said, glancing over at the time, ‘And I… am going to go have lunch with Mr Gold. But you’re welcome to stay here if you need to.’ She smiled at Emma. ‘Kids fantasy is at the back, young adult fantasy is second shelf from the back.’

Emma stood up. ‘Yeah, I might just take a look. You know, for future reference.’

‘Sure,’ Belle said, and headed over to Granny’s.

She wasn’t really sure what Mr Gold would order from Granny’s so Belle got them both hamburgers. Mr Gold hadn’t been in a bad mood that morning and so Belle was hoping he might actually accept a lunch offering. Of course, Mr Gold was getting steadily more annoyed at her dodging his questions, so maybe not.

Maybe he’d looked properly at the spinning wheel and it wouldn’t be Mr Gold she met in the shop.

Belle walked a little faster.

Juggling their lunches, Belle just about managed to get the shop door open and duck inside. Mr Gold limped out from behind the curtain and surveyed her with raised eyebrows.

‘I, uh,’ Belle said, studying his face for a moment and trying not to be too disappointed. Regina had said she didn’t think it would work. ‘I brought you lunch.’ His eyebrows just rose further so Belle added; ‘Unless you’ve, um, already eaten.’

‘No, I haven’t.’ Mr Gold seemed to be studying her in turn, then he gestured towards the back of the shop. ‘Come through, Miss French. I assume from the quantity that you’ve also brought lunch for yourself?’

‘Um, yes,’ Belle said, feeling her face heating up.

‘A year, Miss French,’ said Mr Gold as he sat down. ‘Apparently during that time your attitude towards me has changed considerably… and your attitude towards Regina.’

Whoever he was scaring into giving him information, Belle wanted to strangle them.

‘She wants to be a better person,’ Belle said, ‘so I’m helping you, um, her. I’m helping her.’

‘Ah.’ Mr Gold unwrapped his hamburger and didn’t comment on it, so Belle assumed it was okay. ‘Well that clears up nothing then.’

Belle thought it was safer to just take a bite of her food. At least Mr Gold was smiling slightly, but he was also facing the spinning wheel and nothing had happened.

‘Something the matter, Miss French?’ asked Mr Gold.

‘Oh! No,’ Belle said, refocusing on him. ‘Um, do you like your hamburger? I wasn’t sure what to get.’

‘I do.’ He hesitated. ‘Thank you.’

Belle smiled. ‘You’re very welcome.’

They ate in silence, but it was a peaceful silence, not the tense, heavy silence that hung around every morning before they left the house.

It was nice to take some time with him, when she wasn’t trying to slip something into his drink, or avoiding answering his questions. Belle felt a little odd spending time with Mr Gold and seeing Rumple staring back out at her and she wasn’t sure quite how she _should_ react around him.

She loved him. He was too much like Rumple for her to feel otherwise.

The hard part was figuring out where that left her.

Belle finished her hamburger and watched as Mr Gold sat back in his chair, studying her right back.

‘Why _were_ you never afraid of me?’ Mr Gold asked, his soft tone seeming to float around the room.

He’d asked her that before, when Emma hadn’t arrived yet, and she hadn’t been able to give him a proper answer then either.

_I was,_ Belle thought, _right back at the beginning. But not for very long._

‘I guess,’ she said aloud, ‘it’s because the Mayor had me locked up, so I never really heard all the stories about you.’

‘Hmm.’ Mr Gold tilted his head to one side. ‘And upon hearing those stories you weren’t the slightest bit concerned?’

‘Well, you did save me from Mayor Mills and let me work at the library,’ Belle said. They’d had a storming argument over the library, which she’d won, so Belle was aware it maybe wasn’t the best thing she could have brought up.

‘Indeed I did.’ Mr Gold folded up the paper from the hamburger and stood. ‘I really must get back to work, but thank you again for troubling yourself to bring me lunch.’

‘It wasn’t any trouble,’ Belle managed to say, also standing, ‘and I really should be getting back to the library.’

‘Well then, I will see you later.’ He looked at her with a twinkle in his eye. ‘I may I just say I wish you the best of luck in helping… Regina.’

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

Snow and David still didn’t want her to tell Mr Gold the truth. Belle had gone to ask them about it again because, well, it was getting too hard to hide it from him. The problem was, that was her _only_ argument; that he was already finding things out himself.

Belle was willing to agree that telling Mr Gold about their world and the curse would (or at least _could_ ) cause almost as many problems as it would solve. It just didn’t seem _right_ to keep it from him. She hated having to lie. She hated that he knew she was lying.

As for Snow and David’s opposition… Belle was trying not to think it was just their bias against Rumple, but it was hard. Lurking in the back of her mind, always, was the possibility that Snow and David wanted to make sure that the Dark One had as little information as possible.

She told herself it was just the stress of the situation making her think that. Snow and David _were_ heroes.

‘Surely you’ll then have to deal with him not believing a word you’ve said?’ David was asking her.

Snow looked between them. ‘Didn’t we already decide you _weren’t_ going to tell him?’

‘I said I wouldn’t,’ Belle said, ‘ _if_ you told me when the Blue Fairy found a cure, but now I know that she won’t help me. I’m lying to him _all the time_ , and he knows it, and sometimes he bothers to pretend he doesn’t but usually…’ Belle sighed. Mr Gold _was_ getting used to the idea that she was keeping something from him and still she’d get those long silences when he was getting really sick of it.

‘I get that must be hard,’ David said, ‘but he’s not going to find out by himself.’

‘I _know_ ,’ Belle said, wondering if he _did_ get it. She couldn’t see how he could. ‘He’s only going to get more confused when he can’t find any answers and I… I don’t feel like I’m helping him. I feel like I’m isolating him _more_.’

‘But you’re not trying to help Mr Gold,’ Snow pointed out. ‘You’re trying to help Rumplestiltskin.’

‘I’m trying to help _both_ of them,’ Belle shot back. In truth, she was struggling to reconcile the similarities and differences. She could understand why Regina said she’d had doubts about Mr Gold even before Emma arrived and yet… he wasn’t Rumple.

‘We are both,’ David said, giving a slight shrug to Snow.

Snow gave him a tight smile and probably would have said more, but was interrupted by someone hammering on the door.

It was Snow who answered, and therefore Snow who was brushed aside as Regina barged her way in.

‘Oh good,’ Regina said, ‘the bookworm’s here, too.’ She peered around the room. ‘But Emma is not.’

‘What is it, Regina?’ Snow asked.

Something serious, Belle realised. Regina was practically vibrating with tension, and she’d been looking over her shoulder as entered the room.

‘It’s my mother,’ Regina said. ‘She’s here.’

‘ _Cora_?’ Snow asked, sounding horrified enough that Belle wondered what kind of mother the Evil Queen had.

Regina scowled. ‘No, my other mother.’

‘But Regina,’ Snow said. ‘How is _Cora_ here? And what does she want?’

Belle was more concerned about why Regina thought it would affect _her_. She’d never heard anything about Regina’s mother before, which meant it probably wasn’t her Cora’s presence was going to affect. Or not directly anyway. What had Rumple done to Regina’s mother to make her an enemy?

‘Does it matter _how_ she’s here?’ Regina started pacing. ‘She’s looking for Rumplestiltskin’s dagger.’

‘ _What_?’ Belle asked. Regina’s mother knew about Rumple’s dagger? She herself had only just found out about it and Rumple really wasn’t big on sharing the information…

‘The dagger controls the Dark One,’ Snow said, exchanging a look with David and Belle found herself staring at them. They all knew.

‘Is the… is Rumple’s dagger common knowledge?’ she asked. The idea of Rumple being the one person in Storybrooke who _didn’t_ know about it left a tight feeling in her chest. Had she _really_ hidden it well enough? But then again, almost none of them could leave town to look for it, because they’d forget what they were looking for. Belle tried to relax. Rumple had thought it was a good hiding place, and he would know.

‘Oh, no I don’t think so,’ Snow said, ‘it’s just that the Blue Fairy knows and she’s always been quite close to my family.’

And thought it was a good idea to pass that information on. Belle filed that away for future reference when dealing with the Blue Fairy, if she ever tried to again. It was possible she was being just as paranoid as Rumple, but it bothered her to have people talking about the dagger when he was Mr Gold.

‘So Cora wants the dagger,’ David said. ‘Why?’

‘So we can threaten _everyone_ here,’ Regina said, her tone tense. ‘Let me see Henry, I need to make sure he’s okay.’

‘He’s not here,’ said Snow, standing up. ‘He’s with Emma. I’ll call her.’

 ‘But Regina, your mother,’ Belle said, ‘why would she want to hurt us?’

Regina shook her head, pulled a face and composed herself, turning to face Belle. ‘Because she’s my mother and that’s what she does. She wants power, and she wants to hurt me, that’s all she cares about and if anyone around here has power, it _should_ be Rumple, but as we know, _Rumple_ isn’t around right now.’

‘And whose fault is that?’ Snow asked, folding her arms.

‘Not _mine_ ,’ Regina said. ‘If he didn’t know that was going to happen, why do you assume _I_ did? He wrote the curse.’

‘ _Nobody_ knew it was going to happen,’ Belle said, a little louder than she’d intended. ‘But it has, and Mr Gold doesn’t know about magic. We can’t let Cora near him.’

‘I’m not interested in letting my mother near Mr Gold.’ Regina shrugged. ‘What I _want_ is a solution. The _best_ chance we have at stopping her is Rumplestiltskin and we all know the fairies won’t come through, not when they know if Rumple who needs the cure. Not even with my mother around. Which makes no sense because he’s the only person I’ve known to have any success against my mother, but that’s fairies for you. We need to wake Rumple.’

What kind of a statement was _that_?

‘Isn’t that what we’ve been trying to do?’ Belle ground her teeth. ‘If you’ve been holding something back…’

‘Of course I haven’t!’ Regina snapped. ‘But I was thinking; have you tried kissing him?’

‘Mr Gold doesn’t love me.’ Belle looked down at the floor.

She _had_ thought about it, but he _didn’t_ love her at the moment and, well, she’d surprised Rumple with a kiss before. It hadn’t gone well.

‘No, but Rumplestiltskin did.’ Regina sounded exasperated. ‘Just try it.’

‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea.’ David looked over at Snow. ‘There was a point where Snow couldn’t remember me, and True Love’s kiss didn’t work then.’

‘Then _make_ him love you. Honestly, how hard can it be?’

An awkward silence descended, while Belle reflected on both Rumplestiltskin and Mr Gold. Rumple was the better man and it had taken… how long exactly, to convince him that someone could love him? And Belle honestly had no idea at what point they’d started loving each other.

‘Okay, stupid question,’ Regina said. ‘Does anyone have a plan B?’

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Snow asked. ‘We’ve got to find that dagger before Cora.’

Regina scoffed. ‘Find something like that? Rumple would have hidden it when he first woke up, which I remind you was before the curse broke. Do you really think we can find something _Rumplestiltskin’s_ hidden?’

Belle bit her lip. ‘Surely its better it stays hidden anyway? If it’s safe where it is, then won’t we just be leading Cora to it if we look?’

‘Yeah, maybe,’ David agreed, ‘but we’d also be risking her finding it. Regina, you’re right that Rumplestiltskin would have done a good job hiding it, but he wouldn’t have been expecting Cora to look. How well did she know him?’

_It’s not Rumple who chose the hiding place_ , Belle thought.

‘Well enough.’ Regina grimaced. ‘Exactly how well? I don’t know. I didn’t ask, but they weren’t _friends_ ; Rumple wanted to get rid of her.’

‘We cannot risk Cora getting that dagger,’ Snow said, forcefully. ‘Belle, can you think of _anything_ Rumplestiltskin might have said to you that can give us a hint?’

‘I don’t…’ Belle paused and looked at Regina. ‘How do I know I can trust you? You’ve kidnapped me, locked me up _and_ tried to take away Rumple’s magic before and now this is your _mother_.’

‘Would I be here warning you if I was working with her?’ Regina snapped. ‘And I’ve been helping you for weeks now!’

‘Rumple’s dagger is different,’ Belle said, she’d known _roughly_ what spells Regina had been casting before and it had been her own risk to take working with Regina. Well. She _had_ been risking Rumple as well, but the dagger was _different_.

‘I believe her,’ Snow said, turning to Belle with a determined expression on her face.

‘There’s an easy way for you to know,’ Regina said, shooting a glance at Snow that said there was still some enmity there. ‘You can give me what I want; what Cora’s offering me.’ She was staring at Snow and David. ‘I want to see Henry. I want to see him regularly, and I want him to stay with me sometimes. _I_ am his mother, I raised him and I want to be able to see him _regularly_.’

‘That’s not…’ Snow glanced over at David. ‘That’s Emma’s decision to make.’

Regina’s stare was cold. ‘Then get her to make it. In the meantime, bookworm, we need to find this dagger.’

Belle looked over at Snow and David. Snow White and Prince Charming. They were good, they were heroes and she should be able to trust them, even if they didn’t like Rumple. And Snow thought Regina was telling the truth and, if it came down to that so did Belle. Regina _did_ like Rumple and she _had_ been helping, even if Belle knew she might never trust her completely.

She took a deep breath. ‘I know where it is.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Regina said.

‘Where?’ Snow asked, at the same time.

Regina waved a hand in Belle’s direction. ‘She doesn’t know where it is! Rumple’s a suspicious bastard. He wouldn’t tell her something like that, not directly.’

Ignoring Regina, Belle focused on Snow and David. ‘I know where it is, and it’s safe. I think it’s as safe as it can be and I… I think if we get it, it’s more likely to fall into Cora’s hands.’

It was uncomfortable, thinking that Cora _could_ get it because she had no cursed persona to revert to. She could cross the line and get it without a problem, but first she’d need to know it was there and no one would think Rumplestiltskin had hidden it over the line. They’d think he couldn’t. Regina’s reaction told her that no one would ever believe that _she’d_ hidden it.

David said; ‘You can at least tell us where it is, so we’ll know if Cora’s getting close.’

Belle stared at him. ‘No. No, the more people who know about it the bigger the risk.’

‘But you want us to just believe Rumplestiltskin would tell you that?’ Regina asked derisively.

‘He trusts me,’ Belle said. ‘He loves me.’

Regina subsided. ‘Fine. Except I don’t want to leave it there.’ She shot a look at Belle. ‘Where ever _there_ is. Like I said, Rumple’s got the best shot against my mother, and surely if anything can wake him up it’s that dagger?’

‘You think it can wake him?’ Belle hadn’t thought of that. Could the solution really be that simple? If only she’d tried it _before_ she’d hidden the dagger.

‘I don’t know if it would,’ Snow said doubtfully. ‘We can ask Blue, but we need it anyway, Belle. If we have it, we can stop Rumplestiltskin’s power from being used to hurt anyone.’

David nodded to her. ‘We can finally control the Dark One.’

Belle’s reply caught in her throat, and suddenly she couldn’t remember what it was she was going to say. What if she’d just made a big mistake by telling them she knew? At least she hadn’t given away its location.

Snow seemed to have noticed her reaction. ‘I’m sorry, Belle, but it would be for the good of _everyone_.’

‘No, it wouldn’t! It definitely wouldn’t be best for _Rumple_.’ Belle felt like there was a hard knot in her chest. What had she done? These were the people who’d locked Rumple in a cage! These people trusted the Blue Fairy, who would _never_ help Rumple. ‘I don’t want to _control_ him! I want to get his memories back!’

‘Belle…’ David said.

‘No.’ Belle backed away towards the door. ‘That dagger stays hidden. And stay away from Mr Gold.’

___________________________

 

She hadn’t meant to wind up at Rumple’s shop. But Belle was scared and angry and now there was another threat to Rumple and Belle doubted there was _anything_ she could do about Cora. Regina’s mother would definitely have magic and Belle knew she couldn’t fight someone with magic.

When it came down to it, Belle wasn’t sure she could _physically_ fight someone who didn’t have magic either.

Oddly, the shop seemed to be empty.

Belle glanced over at the empty desk and assumed that Mr Gold was in the back, but she couldn’t _hear_ anything, so maybe he’d gone home early. Except he wouldn’t have left the door unlocked. Belle pushed through the curtain and a shape loomed out at her, something cold and hard pressing into her head.

Flinching away, Belle nearly tripped, her heart was in her mouth…

‘Ah. Lacey. My apologies.’

Belle stared.

Mr Gold tucked the gun away.

‘What…?’ Belle didn’t have her breath back enough to ask anything more coherent.

‘I’m very sorry for scaring you.’ Mr Gold limped out of the shadows and headed over to the table. ‘There is a strange woman in town, who I suggest you stay away from. She came in here, had a lot of very… odd things to say and then turned overtly threatening.’

_Oh no_. Belle hadn’t expected that.

‘Cora,’ she whispered, her heart still thudding in her chest. ‘That would be Cora.’

Regina’s mother had already been there, seeking out Rumplestiltskin and had found Mr Gold. Firstly, Belle found herself worried about anyone confident enough to approach Rumple when they thought he had magic while also searching for his dagger. Secondly… Belle couldn’t help but worry that if Mr Gold pulled a gun on Regina’s magical mother it wouldn’t end well for him.

‘I don’t know that name,’ said Mr Gold.

‘She’s Regina’s mother,’ Belle told him, leaning against the wall and taking a deep breath. ‘ _Don’t_ do that again.’

Mr Gold grimaced. ‘Of course not. Sorry.’ He paused. ‘Regina’s _mother_. Well. That certainly explains a thing or two about our ex-mayor, doesn’t it?’

‘Probably,’ Belle agreed.

‘ _Probably_?’ Mr Gold asked.

‘Well, I haven’t actually met Cora,’ Belle said. ‘I was just warned about her before I came here.’

Mr Gold was going for the whiskey again, forcing Belle to wonder _exactly_ what Cora had said to him. She couldn’t ask, because then she’d have to lie to him about what it meant. Unless… she didn’t lie. Except she’d never finished that conversation with Snow and David and... should she really take their opinions into account when trying to help Rumple? If there was one thing she was now sure of, it was that they didn’t _want_ to help. Did they even see Rumple as a _person_?

‘Do you want a drink, Miss French?’ asked Mr Gold.

‘I…’ Belle closed her eyes.

_We can finally control the Dark One,_ David had said.

‘Yes,’ Belle said firmly. ‘I could really do with a drink.’

Mr Gold laughed softly. ‘Your day’s been as good as mine, then?’

Belle sat down. ‘Maybe even better. First I got told about Cora, and then I got a gun shoved against my head.’ She sighed. ‘I know. You’re sorry. It just scared me.’

‘Well it wasn’t supposed to be comforting.’ Mr Gold set the glasses on the table and started pouring out the whiskey.

Belle took the glass and glared at him.

Mr Gold caught the look. ‘Of course it also wasn’t supposed to be aimed at you,’ he added as he sat down.

‘I wouldn’t try that on Cora, though,’ Belle said, ‘she’s been trained…’

‘In what?’ Mr Gold took a sip of whiskey. ‘Being bulletproof?’

Belle couldn’t help it, she laughed, and he smiled back at her looking, for a second, remarkably like Rumple.

‘I guess I’m just suggesting you stay away from her,’ Belle said.

‘I wasn’t planning on seeking her out,’ Mr Gold replied, ‘but I’m certainly not going to change my routine for another mad Mills woman.’

Belle frowned. There was every chance they’d be relying on Regina to fight _against_ her mother and it would be better if Mr Gold wasn’t too suspicious of her. ‘I’m not sure Regina is _mad_ as such…’

Mr Gold set his glass back down. ‘Strange. I distinctly remember having to chase her out of my shop at gun point. Although, in all fairness to Regina, much of the town is spouting odd comments these days.’

‘Um… have you had to chase many other people out at gun point?’ Belle asked, cautiously.

‘One or two,’ said Mr Gold. He paused. ‘A day.’

Belle choked, struggling not to spit her drink onto the table.

He tilted his head. ‘That was a joke, Miss French.’

Managing to swallow the drink without spitting any, Belle gasp out a cough and decided she’d had enough whiskey. She needed to tell him. It was _important_ that she told him, because of Cora.

Even if there was nothing he could do about it… unless she also told him he had magic.

And that… was maybe not a good idea to have someone as powerful as Rumple experimenting with magic while everyone still had Cora to worry about. It was possible that Mr Gold wouldn’t be able to use Rumple’s magic though…

There was too much she didn’t know; about Rumple’s curse, about his dagger, about Cora. 

Belle sighed, and said nothing.

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

The library door opened and Belle looked up sharply, relaxing only a little when she saw it was Emma.

‘If you’ve come about the dagger…’ Belle started.

Emma shook her head. ‘No, for what it’s worth; controlling someone? Not okay.’

Belle looked down at her hands. ‘Thank you.’

‘No problem, you just make sure it stays hidden. We’ve got enough problems with magic anyway.’ Emma looked frustrated and Belle studied her.

‘Was Rumple right?’

‘What?’

Belle smiled a little. ‘You have magic, don’t you?’

Emma grimaced. ‘Yeah. Apparently. Regina’s trying to teach me, because she thinks we need everything we have against Cora, but…’ She shrugged. ‘I’m not… magic isn’t my thing, I’d rather stick with my gun.’ She seemed to mentally shake herself. ‘Anyway, I’m not here about me. I had an idea about Mr Gold.’

‘What about Mr Gold?’ Belle asked cautiously.

‘Can you get him to leave town?’

Belle took a step back. ‘No. I mean… why? Why would I do that?’

Even as she asked the question, the answer seemed painfully obvious.

‘Cora can’t use his magic if he’s not in town,’ Emma said. ‘We tested it with Regina; there’s no magic past the town’s boundary. He’d be safe from Cora.’

‘Regina thought Rumple might be able to beat Cora,’ Belle said. It was hard to believe that Rumple _wouldn’t_ be able to beat Cora. Her Rumple had had so much magic, dark magic, yes, and that had often showed but Belle couldn’t imagine anyone beating him.

‘Yeah, Regina was against it. But the thing is, we’ve got Mr Gold, not, um, Rumplestiltskin.’

_And we might not ever have Rumple_ , Belle thought _, if I send him away from any magical solution_.

The thing about convincing Mr Gold to leave Storybrooke was that, with his current opinion of things, he might not come back.

Aloud she said; ‘I don’t think I could convince him to go.’

Emma eyed her critically for a second. ‘Okay. It’s just a thought. I’ve got to get back to Henry, I’m supposed to be talking to him about Regina.’

That sounded like Emma was going to let Regina see Henry more and Belle was glad. When she’d been working with Regina to get Rumple back, Belle had got the impression Regina was getting desperate to have her son back. It made sense. Regina _had_ raised him, on her own, for ten years, but Belle was worried that she might think Emma wasn’t giving her enough concessions and then… Belle didn’t know much about Cora, but it sounded like she knew offering Regina a chance to be Henry’s only parent was the best way to get Regina’s cooperation.

Hopefully that wouldn’t happen.

Emma left and almost immediately Belle heard a noise among her books. She froze and then peered into the library, trying to see through the shelves.

And a man in black stepped out from the shadows. Belle recognised him instantly.

‘You lied to me,’ the pirate said, advancing towards her. ‘You said you’d never heard of a weapon that could harm Rumplestiltskin. And yet here you are, love, the one person who knows where it is.’

He’d heard her and Emma talking about the dagger.

Belle backed away, mind racing. He _hadn’t_ been in Storybrooke; she’d checked, which meant he’d come with Cora. And she didn’t have a weapon. Maybe she should have, given that Cora was around, only what good was a physical weapon against magic?

The pirate followed her, his hook gleaming under the library’s lights. ‘Now, I just need to know where it is.’

‘I won’t tell you,’ Belle said. It was possible Emma was still close enough to hear if she screamed loud enough, unless Emma had taken her car…

‘Oh, you will.’

The pirate lunged at her and Belle shoved a trolley of books at him, it tipped and narrowly avoided landing on top of him. Belle wished it had, but at least she’d bought herself a little time. Belle leapt for the elevator, opening the doors. She hesitated. If she went in there, she’d be trapped, with the pirate able to sit and wait for her to come out.

He tried to take advantage of her hesitation, launching himself at her, hook raised, and Belle dodged to the side. The pirate tumbled into the elevator and Belle fumbled to hit the door controls again, shutting him inside.

Muffled cursing came from inside the elevator and Belle pulled out her phone, dialling Emma’s mobile. She shot a look at the elevator door. It looked pretty solid, _surely_ he couldn’t get out. The pirate had no magic, she was sure of it, so he couldn’t get out and Emma would be able to arrest him.

Belle held the phone to her ear, holding her breath. Hopefully Emma wasn’t busy…

If the pirate sounded like he was about to break through Belle knew she could always send the elevator down. Only that would leave him as a threat running around in the tunnels, and she’d be in the library never knowing when he was going to resurface and attack her or Mr Gold.

_‘Belle_?’ asked Emma’s voice and Belle slumped against the wall in relief.

‘Emma,’ she said, ‘Cora didn’t come here alone.’

____________________________

 

Belle watched from safely behind the desk as Emma cuffed the pirate, who had introduced himself as Captain Hook, to Emma’s annoyance. Personally, Belle couldn’t have cared less about his name, just that he wasn’t free to hurt her or Rumple.

‘I wasn’t going to _hurt_ her,’ Hook argued, flashing what was probably supposed to be a charming smile at Emma. ‘In fact, I was helping everyone by trying to get rid of the crocodile.’

‘The what now?’ Emma asked, then groaned. ‘Captain Hook and the crocodile. Just when I think I’ve got the hang of things-‘ She swung Hook around roughly towards the door ‘-something like _you_ turns up.’

‘Rumplestiltskin is the crocodile,’ Hook told her. ‘Didn’t you see his skin?’

‘Looked pretty normal to me,’ Emma started steering him towards the door.

_Not in our world,_ Belle thought. Although… crocodile? Rumple had been _almost_ scaly and a bit glittery. Belle wondered if Hook meant the eyes. Those eyes had definitely been unnerving at first and yet very expressive and, okay, maybe a little reptilian but Belle found she was fond of the memory.

‘You were attacking me,’ she said to Hook, ‘what part of that wasn’t going to hurt?’

He grinned. ‘The part where you simply gave up that dagger, love.’ He shot a look at Emma. ‘For the good of all.’

‘Basically,’ Emma said, ‘you’ve now confessed to assault and attempted murder. You want to keep talking?’

Hook’s expression darkened. ‘Skinning myself a crocodile wouldn’t be murder. He’s a bloody demon.’

‘Ok-ay,’ Emma said, exchanging a look with Belle. ‘You’re staying behind bars pretty much indefinitely.’

Belle could have hugged her, if Hook hadn’t been in the way. She had no idea what Rumple had done to Hook and, if she was honest, Rumple probably _had_ done something to Hook but that didn’t mean he should die for it! It scared her, the number of enemies Rumple seemed to have and, like Hook and Cora, they could appear without warning.

Hook was dragged out of the library and Belle followed because she needed to reassure herself that he was really going to be locked up. She trusted Emma, it was just nice to be able to think that _one_ of the people after Rumple was behind bars.

She leant back against the door as Emma drove off.

One problem gone, she told herself, firmly not thinking about how it was one problem that had really only turned up that day.

‘ _Belle_?’ said a stunned voice. ‘Belle!’

Swinging around, Belle found herself staring straight at her papa.

‘Father!’ Belle managed a smile. She loved her papa, but she wasn’t sure she could face him. Not straight after Hook. And not when she knew his opinion about Rumple.

‘Oh Belle,’ her papa said, stopping right in front of her, looking worried. ‘I heard you were still with that monster, but Belle, he’s not himself anymore. It’s okay. You can come home, there _aren’t_ any more ogres, there’s no deal.’

‘Papa, it’s not like that anymore…’

‘You have to know we tried, Belle!’ her papa was saying, as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘We decided we could manage and we sent Gaston to rescue you, to bring you home.’

‘Gaston…?’ Belle frowned. She hadn’t seen Gaston in Storybrooke, come to think of it.

‘Yes! We tried to help you.’ He was wringing out his hands. ‘And now you can come home.’

‘Well, I don’t know about Gaston, papa,’ Belle said, ‘but I’m _choosing_ to stay with Rumple now.’

Gaston had probably got lost in the forest surrounding Rumple’s castle. If the mood took him, Rumple could have made it so _no one_ could find their way out. It would have been nice if he’d mentioned it, though.

‘No, it can’t be true.’ The look on his face said he’d already heard the rumours. ‘You don't understand what that man will do to you, what he's already done.’

_What he’s already done?_ Belle could hardly believe her ears. What exactly was he saying about her?

‘No, _you_ don't understand,’ she said, taking a step towards him. ‘It's my life.’

It hurt that he’d already heard about her decision. It hurt even more that he couldn’t accept her own choices in life, even after all that time. That was the problem, though, wasn’t it? He’d been worrying ever since she’d gone with Rumple.

‘I’m sorry, father, but I _love_ him and I’m staying with him.’ She tried a reassuring smile. ‘He let me go. I haven’t been his captive for a _long_ time now, Regi- The Evil Queen locked me up, _that’s_ why I couldn’t come back. It wasn’t Rumple.’

‘You truly want to stay with that monster?’

‘He’s not a monster,’ Belle said, but gently because, _finally_ , her papa seemed to be listening at last. ’And yes, I do.’

He shook his head, with a strange regret in his eyes. ‘Then I don't have a choice. I'm sorry. Do it.’

If she hadn’t already been tense from Hook, Belle wasn’t sure she would have been quick enough. As it was, she saw her father’s eyes flick to something behind her and started to turn… so the sack didn’t fall over her head, instead colliding with her shoulder.

Belle jerked to the side, stamped backwards in her heels and hearing someone cry out.

She ducked back towards the library, staring at her father in horror. ‘What are you _doing_?’

‘What I must Belle.’ He was approaching her, and so was the man whose foot she’d stamped on. A man wearing a red hat.

‘You don’t _need_ to do anything! My life is my own!’ Belle’s back hit the door. She could dart inside and lock herself in, but she needed to know. ‘Tell me what you’re doing!’

‘You must forget him, Belle,’ her papa said. ‘You must. Even if that means you forget me too.’

Belle frowned, struggling to grasp his meaning. ‘Forget… You want to send me across the town line! You’d do that to me? To your own daughter?’

‘It’ll be okay, Belle,’ her father was saying, oblivious to her horror. ‘You’ll be away from _him_.’

Any second now the other man would try and grab her again.

‘I’ve already been across the town line!’ Belle shouted. She could see people on the other side of the street, stopping and staring. Good.

Her father stopped. ‘No, no. You can’t have.’

‘The Evil Queen never gave me a cursed personality,’ Belle told him, surprising even herself with her cold tone. ‘She wanted to gloat.’

And gloat Regina had, and still Belle was working with her. It was _that_ which should worry her father, not Rumple.

‘No. Belle, no.’ Her father’s face had fallen as his plan collapsed. ‘He’s put an enchantment on you, you have to see it!’

The only thing Belle could see was her father, ignoring everything she had to say. Ignoring her feelings about her _True Love_. She couldn’t deal with it. Her father would rather her remember _nothing_ , to be like Mr Gold, wandering around not understanding anything, not truly knowing _anyone_. Her own father had wanted that for her.

And Belle knew better than anyone that it was likely an irreversible change.

‘No! There’s no enchantment! If you cared about me, father, you would listen to me!’ She opened the library door. ‘I don’t want to see you again. Ever.’

She slammed the door in his face before he could say anything else and she locked it. He could try something else. He could try _anything_ if he was willing to take her memories away.

Belle sunk down with her back against the door and wished she could go back to Rumple for comfort. What if it _was_ irreversible? What if she never spoke to Rumplestiltskin again?

She’d barely been there a minute when there was a sharp knock on the door.

Belle jumped then froze. Surely her father wasn’t going to try and break in. _Surely_ not.

‘Belle?’ came Emma’s voice. ‘Are you still in there?’

Glancing up, Belle could see Emma’s face peering through the window. She took a shuddering breath and climbed slowly to her feet. Emma was probably just there to assure her Hook was locked up… unless something had happened on the way there.

Belle pulled open the door. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘You tell me,’ Emma said. ‘I’d barely got Hook locked up when I got a call from Ruby, saying she was worried about two guys cornering you outside the library.’

‘Oh. That.’ Belle could feel her eyes overflowing and wiped a hand over them.

‘Belle?’ Emma asked.

‘Come in,’ Belle muttered, and Emma did.

‘ _That,’_ Belle said, leaning against the desk, ‘was my father. And I think I’ve sorted it out.’

‘Your _father_?’ Emma asked, raising her eyebrows. ‘Man, Ruby made it sound like you were being attacked.’

‘I was,’ Belle said shortly. ‘He wanted to send me over the town line because he wants me to forget Rumple.’

‘Really? Your father?’ Emma, to her credit, looked nearly as stunned as Belle felt. ‘I can go arrest him, if you want.’

‘No. I told him it wouldn’t work. Then I told him to leave.’ Belle sighed, swiping at her eyes again. ‘It’s not that I don’t understand why he hates Rumple, but then he acts like I can’t make up my own mind and… and it’s just after Hook.’ Belle felt her lower lip trembling. ‘ _Everyone’s_ trying to hurt him. Regina and I are out of ways to make him remember and I _was_ going to go and see my father because it’s been years and now _this_.’

She was mixing everything up together, Belle realised. But that was how it felt. A jumble of unfixable problems.

Emma put a hand on her arm and squeezed it gently. ‘Hey. I’m sure it’ll be fine. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from… from my parents it’s to never give up, okay?’

‘But I’m out of ways to help him,’ Belle whispered.

‘Well,’ Emma said, ‘is there anything I can do?’ She pulled a face. ‘I have magic, maybe there’s something I can try?’

Belle looked at her, remembering the conversation they’d had a while ago. ‘You could drive across the town line and back again?’

Emma gave her a half smile. ‘You’re not exactly joking are you?’

‘No,’ Belle admitted, still sniffling a little, ‘and it won’t take more than a few minutes.’

‘Yeah, well, I did say I would.’ Emma reached into her pocket, scooping up her car keys. ‘I’ll call you when I’m driving back across. You want to head down to his shop?’

Belle nodded, wishing she felt more hopeful, but as far as long shots went, this one was really, _really_ , out there.

__________________________

 

‘Miss French,’ said Mr Gold as she entered the shop. ‘Was there actually something you wanted today? Or do you need a few minutes to think about it?’

‘Oh, I think I’ll take a few minutes to think about it,’ Belle told him, because she was tired and he wasn’t Rumple and was apparently in a bad mood. Mr Gold’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t move to stop her as she pushed through the curtain.

Emma called a few minutes later.

‘ _Okay, I’m just about to drive back over the line into town,’_ Emma said and Belle could hear the yellow bug’s engine in the background.

‘Tell me when you’re across,’ Belle said, and she _was_ feeling nervous, despite herself.

‘ _And I’m across… now_.’ Emma paused. _‘Any luck?’_

Belle peeked out into the shop and saw Mr Gold still going through paperwork as if nothing had happened.

‘No. Nothing,’ Belle said, the disappointment a bitter taste in her mouth.

_‘Alright, well, I can try it again if you want, or I’ll just head back.’_

Belle shook her head, sitting down at the small table. ‘Just head back, Emma, it didn’t work.’

_‘Yeah. I’m sorry,’_ Emma said. _‘I’ll – hang on, what the hell?’_

Belle sat up straighter, hearing the alarm in Emma’s voice. ‘What’s happening?’

_‘There’s another car out here, coming up behind me.’_

‘From out of Storybrooke?’ Belle asked.

_‘Yeah. I’m pulling over, wait, wait, they’re over the town line and they’re stopping.’_

Belle wondered suddenly if just anyone could find Storybrooke now. Of course, they’d still have to be driving out in the middle of nowhere and stumble across the town. Was that what was happening?

‘Emma? Do you want me to get someone else out there with you?’

_‘No, I – ‘_ Emma drew in a sharp breath and she said something that Belle didn’t quite catch.

‘Emma?’ Belle asked. Could she get Mr Gold to drive out there? ‘Emma?’

She couldn’t hear the background noise anymore, so Belle looked down at the phone.

The call had been ended from Emma’s end.

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

Belle got up from the table, holding the phone tightly. It was her who’d asked Emma to go to the town line and now she was (probably) in trouble; she _had_ to do something. And yet she found herself hesitating. It was irrational, Belle knew, not wanting Mr Gold anywhere near the town line, but she shuddered at the thought of asking him.

‘Miss French?’ Mr Gold stepped into the back of the shop. ‘Is there a problem?’

He must have heard her calling out Emma’s name.

‘It’s Emma,’ Belle said, because she _had_ to help Emma, ‘she was driving out by the town line and I was speaking to her on the phone and someone else is out there.’

Mr Gold shrugged. ‘It’s not a crime to be out there.’

‘No,’ Belle said, giving him a look, ‘but Emma said they’d stopped and then she cut off the call.’

‘I see,’ Mr Gold said.

Belle lifted her phone again, turning away. ‘I’m calling Mary Margaret.’

‘Yes, I’m sure a school teacher will be wonderful help,’ said Mr Gold and, to her surprise, produced his car keys from his pocket. ‘Given the current… odd state of this town, I wouldn’t mind the sheriff owing me a favour.’

_She already does_ , Belle thought. Also, Snow would be a _lot_ of help and so would David, but she didn’t know how to tell Mr Gold that.

‘I assume you want to come?’ asked Mr Gold.

‘Yes, definitely.’

It seemed a long drive out to the town line and Belle used the time to try and call Emma back twice (no answer) and to call and tell Snow what was happening (telling Mr Gold it was because she was Emma’s roommate).

As they got closer to the town limits, Mr Gold glanced briefly over at her.

‘I’ve heard plenty of rumours about attempting to leave town, Miss French, and, of course, have my own experience.’ He was frowning. ‘If there’s anything I need to know, I suggest you tell me now.’

‘No. There’s… there’s nothing.’

At least nothing more the town line could do to Mr Gold.

‘I’m just worried about Emma,’ Belle continued.

‘ _Miss French_ ,’ said Mr Gold in a clipped tone, ‘I’m going to make this simple. Give me a yes or no answer. There is a stranger, possibly meaning harm to Emma Swan, at the town line; _that_ I can deal with. Is there any other, less apparent, danger to either myself or you?’

Belle pressed her lips together. ‘No.’

‘Good.’

Gradually, the town line came into view, and with it, two cars. One was clearly Emma’s bug, which stood out a mile away, but the other… Belle had never seen that car in Storybrooke before. Neither had she seen the man standing next to it, clearly involved in a heated argument with Emma Swan.

‘Do you recognise him?’ Mr Gold asked as he pulled up.

‘No,’ Belle squinted at the man. Average height, short dark hair, dark eyes, little bit of a beard… not someone she’d ever seen in Storybrooke. He didn’t look like he was being aggressive to Emma though, if anything, it was the other way around.

Then Mr Gold got out of the car, and things changed. Belle stayed behind him, because Mr Gold had brought his gun, and she didn’t want to be in the way.

‘Is everything alright here, Miss – ‘ was as far as he got.

The stranger took a step back, moving in front of Emma. ‘Don’t you go near her!’

Belle, standing next to the car, froze. That was _definitely_ not a reaction to Mr Gold; it was a reaction to _Rumplestiltskin_. He must be like August, from her world but who got there before the curse.

‘You _know_ him?’ Emma shouted, and now Belle noticed that her eyes were wide, torn somewhere between fury and panic. She recognised the look from Rumple, actually. ‘You’re from _there_ and you know _him_? Did you _plan_ this? Did both of you _plan_ this?’

That last part was, uselessly, aimed at Mr Gold.

‘Well, I assure you, Miss Swan, whatever it is you think I’ve planned, you’re mistaken.’ Mr Gold folded his hands on top of his cane. ‘I’ve never seen this man before.’

‘Oh, are you _kidding me_?’ The stranger stared in angry disbelief. ‘That is just… unreal, you know?’

‘I’m sure it is,’ replied Mr Gold evenly, shooting a look towards Belle.

He wouldn’t want her to admit he had memory problems, Belle knew that. He knew she knew that. He also didn’t know the extent of the memory loss and maybe if she mentioned it, it might make the situation just that little bit clearer. Depending on who the stranger was of course, if he decided Rumple’s memory loss meant he could attack him…

Emma was backing away from the stranger, back toward her car. ‘No, I can’t believe this. I have to know the truth!’ She was staring at the stranger. ‘Were you working with him?! _Were you?!’_

So Emma knew the stranger and wasn’t afraid of him, but the stranger apparently knew Rumple and that simple fact made Belle want to grab Mr Gold and get him back into the car.

‘No!’ the stranger said. ‘No, look, uh…’ He shot another look towards Mr Gold. ‘Not in front of him. Okay? I’ll explain everything.’ He turned back to Mr Gold. ‘And as for you… just… you stay away from me. I don’t want you anywhere near me, or Emma.’

Mr Gold eyed him for a moment, then turned to Belle.

‘It seems my work here is done.’ He pivoted on his good leg, and limped back towards the car, closing the car door behind him with some force.

Belle hesitated. ‘Emma, are you okay?’

‘No! This is not okay!’ Emma jabbed a finger at the stranger. ‘He’s here and that is _not_ okay!’

‘Whoa, hey, I’ll explain everything, I promise,’ the stranger was still shooting glances after Mr Gold. ‘Just when he’s gone, yeah? We can go to a bar.’ He lifted a hand and scratched the side of his face. ‘Maybe in Boston?’

‘ _No_ ,’ Emma shouted, ‘not in Boston! Not in a bar! You are going to stand right here and explain _everything_!’

A car horn split the air and Belle jumped, only to see Mr Gold staring at her through the windscreen. Pointedly, he started the car.

Emma didn’t seem in any danger but…

‘Emma?’ Belle asked again.         

‘Oh.’ Emma turned her furious gaze from the stranger. ‘Yeah, if anyone gets hurt here it’s not going to be me.’

‘Right. Okay then. I’ll… I’ll leave you to it.’

Certain that the two of them _did_ need some privacy, Belle climbed back into the car. Silently, Mr Gold jammed the wheel lock on and started to turn the car around… just as Snow’s car came revving down the road, David in the driver’s seat, Snow staring out an open window, and slide to a halt, blocking the road.

Mr Gold braked, took a moment to stare at the car, and then turned the engine off.

‘Miraculous coma patient David Nolan has just blocked us in with the increasingly odd Sheriff Swan, and our latest madman.’ Mr Gold sighed. ‘My reasons for going to New York are becoming clearer with each passing day.’

Belle couldn’t help smiling. ‘We could ask him to move it.’

They both watched as David and Snow’s doors flung open and they leapt out, heading for Emma.

‘Perhaps they’ve left the keys,’ Mr Gold suggested, and threw open his door again.

Belle followed him over to David’s truck, hearing Emma’s argument getting inflamed by David and Snow behind them.

‘Is Neal even your _name_?’ Emma was shouting.

Belle tried to curb her own curiosity; who _was_ the stranger? Beside her, Mr Gold muttered something under his breath, and then leaned into the still open door of David’s truck.

‘No keys,’ he said in a dry tone, ‘but there _is_ one Henry Mills.’

‘Henry?’ Belle poked her head into the car and the kid himself gave her a smug smile.

‘They said I couldn’t come and it worked on Emma before, so…’ Henry looked out towards what was rapidly developing into a four way argument. ‘Who is that? Is it another stranger?’

‘Not from the way Miss Swan was addressing him,’ said Mr Gold, doing one final check for the keys and then straightening up.

‘Or the way he was talking about you,’ Belle said thoughtfully. _Another_ of Rumple’s enemies. Maybe that was reason enough to indulge her curiosity, even though the man hadn’t yet tried to attack.

Mr Gold gave her a sharp look.

Henry climbed out of the car. ‘Cool, I’m going to go see.’

‘Uh, Henry.’ Belle moved to block his way, remembering how upset Emma had been. ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea.’

‘But I’m here now,’ Henry said. ‘I don’t want to wait in the car.’

‘How about you stay here, Henry,’ said Mr Gold, ‘and I’ll teach you how to hot wire a car?’

‘Rumple!’ Belle admonished, and then her hand flew to her mouth.

Henry moved back towards Mr Gold. ‘Really? That’s awesome!’

Mr Gold’s eyes narrowed briefly at Belle, then he leaned back into the driver’s seat. ‘Certainly, Henry. Here, can you see?’

‘Yep!’ said Henry brightly, suitably distracted.

Belle was torn for a moment, between staying with Mr Gold and Henry and going to see who ‘Neal’ really was, but her curiosity won out. That, and she didn’t want to have to explain to Mr Gold why she’d just called him ‘Rumple’. There was every chance he was going to question her about that later.

David intercepted her as she approached. ‘Look, I think he and Emma just need some time…’

‘I know,’ Belle said in a low voice. ‘I was just wondering who he is.’

‘You left because _Pinocchio_ told you to?’ Emma shouted.

‘I don’t know yet,’ David said, shaking his head.

Snow, taking a few steps back from where Belle got the impression she’d been trying to calm things down, moved towards them. ‘Where’s Mr Gold?’

‘In the car,’ Belle said, feeling a little guilty at the Rumple style not-quite-a-lie. He _was_ in the car; just not _his_ car.

She could only catch snippets of Emma and Neal’s conversation, when Emma was getting particularly angry.

‘David,’ Snow said quietly, ‘Neal set Emma up so that she went to jail.’

‘ _What_?’ David asked, eyes flicking back towards Neal.

‘I know,’ Snow said. ‘And it apparently had something to do with August.’

‘Your name is _Baelfire_?’ Emma asked, loudly, and as Belle’s head snapped around she could see Neal making shhing motions and indicating towards… towards Mr Gold’s car.

Belle felt rooted to the spot. No. No, it _couldn’t_ be. Not now.

‘Belle?’ Snow asked suddenly. ‘Are you okay?’

Shaking her head mutely, Belle took an uncertain step backwards, her every instinct screaming to _go and tell Rumple_. Except Rumple wasn’t there. Instead she moved towards Emma and… and _Baelfire_.

‘I’m sorry,’ Belle said, breaking into the conversation. ‘Did you say your name was _Baelfire_?’

Neal went still, pretty much confirming it and Belle suddenly just wanted to sit down and cry. They hadn’t even needed to leave. _They hadn’t needed to leave!_

_Oh, Rumple._

‘Uh,’ Baelfire said, lowering his voice. ‘I prefer Neal… did, uh, did _he_ hear that?’

‘He was looking for you,’ Belle whispered. She’d been trying everything and still Rumple wasn’t here for this. He _should_ have been. She wanted to go over and tell him anyway.

‘Yeah, but did he _hear that_? Neal asked urgently, while Emma turned away, running a hand through her hair.

‘It… it doesn’t matter.’ Belle could hardly get the words out. ‘He doesn’t know. He doesn’t remember.’ She shook her head, the low rumble of an engine in the background hardly catching her attention.

Neal leaned a little closer to her. ‘What do you mean he doesn’t remember?’

‘You know the curse?’ Emma broke in. ‘The one your friend Pinocchio told you had broken? He’s still affected by it, so whatever _deal_ you made with Rumplestiltskin the Dark One –‘

‘He’s Rumple’s son,’ Belle said.

Emma froze and Neal’s shoulders slumped.

‘Emma…’ Neal said. ‘ _That’s_ why I wouldn’t have gone near you if I’d known. I didn’t want him to find me.’

‘But he loves you,’ Belle said, remembering Rumple’s nervousness, remembering how hard he’d fought for just the _chance_ to see his son again.

‘He let me _go_ ,’ Neal snapped, then frowned at her. ‘Who the hell are you anyway?’

‘I’m Belle,’ she said, meeting his stare. ‘I’m Rumple’s True Love.’

‘You… what?’

‘You’re _Rumplestiltskin’s_ son?’ Emma asked. ’No. This is… no.’

‘Hey mom!’ Henry was suddenly there, running up to Emma. ‘Mr Gold showed me how to hot wire a car!’

Belle shot a quick look behind them, and saw Snow and Mr Gold arguing next to Snow’s car, which was now moved out of the way of the Cadillac. David was heading towards them after Henry, not fast enough. Whatever was going on between Emma and Rumple’s son, it probably wouldn’t be helpful for Henry to get involved.

‘Henry, go back to Mary Margaret,’ Emma said sharply and Neal’s gaze dropped down to Henry.

‘Who… who’s this?’ Neal asked.

Emma ignored him. ‘Henry, go back to Mary Margaret and wait in the car. Now.’

‘Emma, who’s this?’ asked Neal again.

Belle couldn’t stop staring at Neal, at Baelfire. This time she had no reason to doubt what he was saying, none at all. It wasn't like August Booth. He didn’t want anything from Rumple, the exact opposite really, just as Rumple had feared. _Exactly_ as Rumple had feared and he couldn’t even try and fix it.

‘My son,’ Emma said in a tone that suggested that that was the end of the conversation, but Neal’s eyes had gone as wide as saucers.

‘Hey, kid,’ Neal said and his tone made Belle focus, ‘how old are you?’

‘Don’t answer him,’ Emma said.

The implications of what was going on hit Belle like a hammer. She stared between Neal and Emma and Henry and… Rumple. Mr Gold.

_No,_ thought Belle. _That’s not possible_. Only, Baelfire (Neal) knew Emma and Emma knew him and there was definitely something there.

‘I’m eleven!’ Henry said. ‘What’s going on?’

Neal swallowed and turned to Emma. 

‘Is this my son?’ he asked.

 


	9. Chapter 9

 

A day was not enough time for it to sink in.

Belle was stunned. Numb.

Mr Gold was making his way around the shop as if nothing had happened, but it had. _So much_ had happened.

Somehow, Rumple’s son had come to them. No, he’d come to _Emma_ because they’d been together… eleven years ago, and he’d wanted to make sure she was safe.

It would have all worked out, Belle realised, if they hadn’t brought magic.

Rumple wouldn’t have been able to locate Baelfire, so they wouldn’t have left town and he’d still have his memory _and_ then Neal would have come to Storybrooke. Cora still would have arrived, but she wouldn’t have any magic so they could have dealt with her (instead of this _waiting_ for her to make a move) and, really, Hook would have still been a problem but Belle felt they could have handled it. She _had_ handled that.

And none of that could have been predicted.

It just didn’t seem _fair_.

Mr Gold had wanted to leave the town line after he’d moved Snow and David’s car, and nothing Belle had said had changed his mind. She’d wanted him to talk to his son, but Neal hadn’t wanted that and Mr Gold didn’t even _know_ and then Henry had been confused and… well.

Belle had left with Mr Gold, speaking of whom…

He was probably wondering why she was hanging around his shop.

She was wondering how she was going to tell him about his son.

He didn’t even think he had a son.

To tell him he did, she’d have to tell him everything. Belle paced the back room, trying to figure out where to start. There was simply no way she could keep Rumple, even as Mr Gold, in the dark about his son. So she had to tell him.

Would it help if she got hold of Henry’s book? Probably not, because he’d just assume that was where she’d got her delusions from. Maybe if she asked Regina to show him magic… but no. Regina couldn’t be trusted not to intentionally scare him by hurling fire or something.

Emma could possibly help, since she’d been through something similar. Although she hadn’t had to be told that all her memories were fake… _and_ she was busy, worrying about Henry and now Neal and trying to find out where Cora was.

To search for an easy way to say it was impossible, Belle just wanted the _best_ way.

The door to the shop opened and Belle dashed to the curtain, thoughts of Cora flying through her head. Mr Gold couldn’t do anything against Cora, but _he_ didn’t know that.

Through the curtain, Belle stopped dead. Standing just inside the door, watching Mr Gold with wary eyes, was Neal.

Without looking away from his father he said; ‘Hey, Belle, can I have a word?’

Mr Gold eyeballed him from behind the desk.

Belle crossed the shop floor and stopped in front of Neal. She didn’t know him. She didn’t know what to say.

Neal looked at her, glanced over at Mr Gold again, paused, and lowered his voice. ‘He, uh, he doesn’t remember anything?’

‘No,’ Belle said. ‘He doesn’t.’

It was impossible to work out what to say to Rumple’s son. Belle wanted to be able to help Rumple patch things up with him, but Rumple wasn’t there and she didn’t know enough. She really, really, didn’t know enough.

‘I’m sorry,’ she added.

‘Don’t be,’ Neal said. ‘I came here for Emma, not him. And at least I know now that they’re both safe from him, you know? I was sitting there in New York, wondering if I should just let Emma lead her life, but with him here I – ‘

‘Stop it!’ Belle said, because she couldn’t hear any more. ‘Stop talking like its better this way!’

Neal stopped and eyed her a little cautiously.

‘This is a shop, not a meeting place,’ said Mr Gold acidly from behind them.

‘That is so weird,’ Neal muttered, his eyes flickering over to Mr Gold.

‘Yes, it is,’ Belle agreed quietly. ‘And I need to tell you; he’s never stopped looking. He was so, so sorry about what happened-‘

‘Sorry doesn’t put it right,’ Neal said, his voice rising again. ‘Listen, I don’t want anything to do with him, alright? I just wanted to make sure that he’s not… him.’

Belle took a deep breath. ‘I don’t know exactly what happened between you. I didn’t meet Rumple until years later and he’s… secretive. But I do know that he wanted to see you again, more than _anything_ else. He told me that your separation was his fault and that he didn’t think you’d ever forgive him, but he needed to try.’ She paused. ‘Neal… I’m trying to bring him back.’

‘Whoa, _what_?’ Neal stared at her. ‘Uh, David told me it wasn’t possible.’

‘I’m doing everything I can to make it possible,’ Belle said firmly. ‘Your father… he’s a good man.’

‘No,’ Neal said. ‘He _was_ a good man and then he changed.’

‘Excuse me,’ Mr Gold was approaching, his cane tapping lightly on the floor, ‘but was I somehow unclear?’

Neal was watching the limp, Belle realised. Was he wondering what had happened? She’d never had the opportunity to ask Rumple…

‘No, you were clear.’ Neal took a step back.

‘And you were clear when you told me to stay away from both yourself and Miss Swan, and yet here you are.’

‘Mr Gold – ‘ Belle said.

‘More lies, Miss French?’ Mr Gold interrupted, his eyebrows rising.

Belle closed her mouth and pressed her lips together. She should have gone to the library, instead she’d put herself in yet another position where he could see her keeping things from him. At least he hadn’t pulled the gun on Neal.

‘Okay.’ Neal moved back towards the door. ‘No, you’re right. I shouldn’t have come in here.’

‘Excellent,’ said Mr Gold. ‘So we’re agreed, I will certainly leave you alone, if you also leave _me_ alone.’

_No_ , Belle wanted to say. _No that’s not what you want_.

Neal’s eyes narrowed. ‘Is that a deal?’

Mr Gold shrugged. ‘If you like.’

‘Yeah?’ Neal said. ‘Well, I’m done with making deals with you.’ He slammed the door behind him.

Mr Gold stared after him for a moment. ‘Neal Cassidy, father of Henry Mills.’ He turned to Belle. ‘No one in this town knows him. He has _not_ been here in the past year, that much is clear. So how is it, exactly, that he knows me, but I don’t know him?’

‘I don’t…’ Belle couldn’t do it. Couldn’t lie to him about his son. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve got to talk to him.’

She ran after Neal, who was already halfway down the street.

‘Wait!’

Neal turned, grimaced and stopped on the side walk, waiting for her to catch up.

‘Okay, I don’t know why you actually _want_ to hang around my father, but leave me out of it.’

‘No,’ Belle said. ‘Don’t you think he has the right to know who you are?’

‘ _Him_? No. He gave up any rights like that when he decided his power was better than me.’ Neal glared in the pawnshop’s general direction. ‘He’ll do the same to you.’

‘He won’t,’ Belle snapped, finding it hard to believe that that could be anywhere near the truth; not for Baelfire, ‘because we’d already started to discuss that.’

Rumple hadn’t thrown her out because he’d loved his power more than her, but Belle had always known that, she’d just assumed he was too afraid and unable to believe that someone _could_ love him. That _was_ part of it.

Belle now knew the real reason had been because Rumple’s _son_ meant more to him than her and she understood that. She respected that.

If there was one thing she was certain of it was that Rumple’s son was worth more to him than _anything_ else. Still, she didn’t know exactly what had happened, Neal did, and so she couldn’t even try to correct him.

‘This is none of your business,’ Neal told her. ‘Like I said, I came here because of Emma and I’m staying because… well, because of her and Henry. Not him. Never him.’ He waved a hand through the air. ‘Why would you… why would you _want_ him back?’

‘I _love him_!’ Belle shouted. She’d been trying to stay calm and it was just too difficult. Rumple’s _son_ stood in front of her, saying the same things everyone else had.

‘Yeah? Well I don’t.’

Belle flinched, glad for the first time that Rumple wasn’t around to hear that.

Neal swallowed, as if he knew he’d gone too far. ‘Bringing him back would be threatening Emma and Henry. I really don’t want you to do that. And I don’t know if you just haven’t seen it yet, but he’s not a good man anymore, that man was taken by magic and became that… that power hungry _thing_ in there. Please, don’t bring that back.’

‘He won’t hurt Emma or Henry or you,’ Belle said, her throat tight. ‘I’ve seen Rumple with his magic, I _knew_ him. All of him, and I love him, even the parts that belong to the darkness.’

‘Yeah, see, I don’t _get_ that.’ Neal rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. ‘Look, I didn’t even know I had a son until yesterday. I just want to get to know him in peace.’

It was so close to what Rumple had told her, when Belle had asked him about being a hero. When Rumple woke up, she was going to be hard pressed not to lock them in a room together and _make_ them talk.

‘Rumple wanted to fix things. I promise you, he _did_.’

‘It’s too late,’ Neal said and grimaced. ‘I’m not going to change your mind, am I? You’re still going to bring him back?’

Belle nodded, taking a deep breath. ‘If I can.’

Rumple had _known_ things would be bad between him and his son, he’d told her as much. Somehow, Belle hadn’t quite been able to believe it.

Neal grimaced. ‘Warn me first? Please?’

Hesitantly, Belle found herself nodding again. ‘I will. I promise.’

_______________________________

 

Belle dropped the pile of books to one side with a thud that reverberated through the library. _Useless_. All of them. Well, for what she was trying anyway.

Every possible spell that Regina could do had been done and the greatest effect had been to put Mr Gold in bed all day with a migraine. _Wonderful_.

As for Emma driving back into town… that had hardly gone to plan, had it? Belle put her head in her hands. Her last resort, True Love’s kiss, had been knocked down by Snow and David. How they’d managed to experience something similar before, Belle didn’t know, but she did know that they _had_ kissed under the curse, and remembered nothing. They’d even loved each other then and Belle was sure that, although Mr Gold did like her, he didn’t _love_ her.

_Make him love you, then,_ Regina had said, _How hard can it be?_

Extremely hard, when she was lying to him all the time. It made him suspicious of her and now Belle had made the decision to tell him everything and she knew she was going to have to warn Neal about _that_ first as well.

He wouldn’t like it. He wouldn’t want her to do it.

Belle felt she needed to do it anyway, which meant she was about to alienate Rumple’s son from herself as well as him.

It would be so much better if she could just _wake Rumple_!

There _had_ to be something she was missing!

What if one of those spells Regina hadn’t been able to cast was the answer? What if the only person capable of casting them was Rumple himself?

‘Maybe I should just kiss him,’ Belle said to herself.

It had to be worth a try.

The bang as the door was flung open made Belle leap backward. Emma ran in, in full sheriff mode, with Regina right behind her.

‘Belle!’ Emma said, out of breath.

‘Emma, Regina.’ Belle hurried over. ‘Is Henry okay?’

‘What? Why wouldn’t he be?’ Regina suddenly looked alarmed.

‘Uh, because you both burst in here and Henry’s not with you?’ Belle said, relieved that Henry was, apparently, okay.

‘Henry’s with Neal,’ Emma said, as Regina scowled. ‘Hook escaped.’

‘ _What_? How? He was… he was locked up!’

‘We think my mother let him out,’ Regina said, sounding annoyed. ‘Although _why_ …’ She shrugged, ‘… we don’t know. He would have had to give her something. My mother wouldn’t have bothered if he wasn’t _useful_ to her.’

The answer came to Belle in a flash. ‘He knows I know where the dagger is.’

‘ _Shit_. How?’ Emma asked. ‘We came here because we thought he might be after you again, but _damn_ Belle, Cora could have been here!’

‘Hook heard us talking about it,’ Belle said to Emma. ‘He was hiding in the back. And we don’t _know_ that he’s told Cora.’

‘Well, you’re not dead yet so maybe he didn’t,’ Regina said, wandering around the library, probably seeing if Hook _was_ hiding in there. As if Belle hadn’t learnt to check after the first time.

‘Hang on.’ Belle bit her lip, a horrible feeling starting to creep up on her. ‘Hook’s escaped, and you came here… but Hook’s not after me.’

Regina scoffed.. ‘He won’t go directly after Rumplestiltskin. No one’s _that_ stupid.’

‘Yeah, but he’s not Rumplestiltskin at the moment, is he?’ Emma pointed out. ‘He’s Mr Gold.’

‘Does _Hook_ know that?’ Regina asked. ‘I didn’t tell him. Did you tell him?’

Belle wondered how quickly they could get across to Mr Gold’s shop. Could Regina magically transport them just outside? Maybe, but would Cora sense the magic? Would Cora even be there? Or just Hook?

‘Cora would know,’ Belle told them, ‘she went in to see him.’

‘She did _what_?’ Regina asked. ‘When?’

‘Just after she got here, and whatever she said to him, he didn’t like it.’ Belle grabbed her coat, heading for the door.

‘Whoa, you want to just barge in there?’ Emma asked. ‘Don’t you think Mr Gold can take care of Hook? Neither of them have magic.’

‘I don’t know where you get _that_ from. Rumple’s magic must still be there,’ Regina said, voicing yet another issue that had been bothering Belle ever since she’d lost Rumple to Mr Gold.

‘ _I_ don’t want Mr Gold to be attacked,’ Belle said. ‘Even if he _can_ take care of it.’

And with that she was out the door, moving quickly across the street, with Emma and Regina following behind.

She threw open the shop door, the little bell ringing out… and Mr Gold glanced up from the desk.

‘Well,’ he said. ‘Quite the selection of visitors. Emma Swan, I’ve been advised to avoid you, although granted with no specific threat attached. Regina, I’ve made myself quite clear that you’re not welcome here. Leave or I _will_ shoot you.’ He folded his hands on the desk. ‘Lacey. What did you want?’

‘Um,’ Belle said. ‘We think there’s a man trying to kill you.’

Mr Gold frowned, but only slightly. ‘And that explains only the presence of Sheriff Swan. Miss French, there are many people in this town who would _like_ to kill me, but I doubt any of them are actively trying to.’

‘This one is,’ Belle said.

‘You should be able to spot him easily,’ Emma said. ‘He’s missing a hand and he wears a great big black leather coat.’

‘Also he’ll be trying to kill you,’ said Regina, helpfully.

Mr Gold’s eyes narrowed. ‘Regina, I think I told you to leave.’

Regina planted herself firmly inside the door. ‘I ignored you.’

‘Mr Gold,’ Belle said, before things could escalate, ‘she’s here to help.’

‘Well, consider me warned.’ Mr Gold came out from behind the desk, his cane tapping as he walked. ‘Miss Swan, I should hope you’ll keep this conversation in mind if I do have to shoot this man.’ He smiled. ‘Self-defence.’

Emma eyed him. ‘Yeah, I will, but not if you shoot Regina.’

‘Trespassing on private property, sheriff,’ said Mr Gold, while Emma continued to glare.

‘Like he could shoot me anyway,’ Regina said.

Mr Gold smiled. ‘Would you like to test that, dear?’

‘Okay, that’s _enough_.’ Emma stepped between them. ‘Mr Gold, I’d rather you didn’t shoot _anyone_. If you see this guy, call me.’

Mr Gold studied them all for a moment. ‘And if I ask _why_ this man wants to kill me?’

‘I’ll tell you,’ Belle said.

‘Do you even _know_?’ snapped Regina. ‘Because I do and let me tell you that is not something _he_ is going to understand.’

‘You do?’ asked Emma, sounding as surprised as Belle felt. Although… she’d first met the pirate in Regina’s castle, so the two of them _must_ have known each other.

Regina shrugged. ‘Well. I know part of it, anyway. He wants revenge.’

‘Thank you, Regina, but I’m sure I’ll manage to grasp it,’ said Mr Gold.

‘I’ll explain _everything_ ,’ Belle said, meeting Mr Gold’s eyes with a firm stare. ‘Tomorrow, okay? I’ve got a few things I need to do first.’

Like plan _how_ she was going to be convincing.

Mr Gold’s eyebrows rose. ‘Everything? Then that threatens to be an interesting day.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, bookworm. You can’t tell him!’ Regina snapped. ‘He won’t believe a word you say!’

‘A _very_ interesting day,’ Mr Gold amended.

‘Uh, Belle…’ Emma said. ‘Are you _sure_?’

‘Certain,’ Belle said, and turned to her. ‘Do you think Henry will let me borrow his book?’

‘He might…’ Emma said, glancing over at Mr Gold who was listening with obvious interest.

‘Great,’ Belle said, her mind whirling. Was there anything else she’d need? Aside from some kind of plan for where to start… ‘I need to ask him for it. And please tell Neal.’

It wouldn’t be fair not to give Neal a warning, but Belle was sick of lying, of Mr Gold not understanding what was going on in Storybrooke. He needed to understand the threats against him, _particularly_ with Cora around… and he needed to know who Neal was. He needed to know about Baelfire.

‘Oh no,’ Emma said. ‘You’re not going to tell him _that_?’

‘I believe Miss French said _everything_.’ Mr Gold was leaning on his cane, looking amused. 

‘And I meant everything,’ said Belle. ‘So tell Neal, and let him know that I’m not going to change my mind.’

 


	10. Chapter 10

 

‘To tell me everything, Miss French,’ said Mr Gold, sitting on the couch beside her. ‘You really do need to say _something_.’

Belle looked down at Henry’s book, clutched in her hands. ‘I keep thinking I know where to start and then… I just... don’t. Regina’s right, you’re not going to believe me.’

Mr Gold sighed. ‘Miss French, I’ve mentioned some of this to you, but allow me to list it again. Since that unfortunate trip out to the town line I have discovered that everyone in this town seems to have two sets of names, some of which they won’t share with me, some of which are… odd. People come in here and ask me things that make absolutely no sense, regardless of what context I attempt to find. _You_ stare at me when you think I’m not looking and frequently refer to me as ‘Rumple’ and there is a firm belief shared by everyone in this town that attempting to cross the town line will leave you without memories.

‘What is worse is that I have good evidence that that is, in fact, not a joke on a massive scale, because I _did_ cross that line and I _am_ missing memories. I suspect more memories than you’ve admitted to. Then there are the more mundane oddities, such as Regina suddenly no longer being mayor and Miss Swan popping up out of nowhere to become sheriff _and_ our newest visitor who apparently knows me. I refuse to even get into your own situation, _Belle_.’ Mr Gold paused. ‘Now, I am assuming that any explanation that covers all of this, and more, is going to be, frankly, bizarre.’

Belle opened her mouth, closed it again and ran a hand over the cover of Henry’s book.

‘I return to my original statement, Miss French, that you do need to say something,’ said Mr Gold.

‘I know, I’m working on it,’ Belle said. ‘Okay, um, Mr Gold.’ She steeled herself. She could do this and she would cope with the consequences. ‘Mr Gold, the first thing you need to understand is that none of us belong here.’

‘In Storybrooke?’ Mr Gold asked, and he did look like he was listening.

‘Not just Storybrooke,’ Belle said, ‘in-‘

‘Quiet,’ said Mr Gold, holding up a hand.

‘What?’ Belle asked, surprised. She hadn’t even said anything unbelievable yet _and_ he’d been encouraging her to speak only seconds before.

Mr Gold stood up, pulling his gun from his jacket. ‘I heard something.’

Belle jumped up from the couch, looking around for the slightest movement. Was it Hook? Or Cora?

‘From where?’ she whispered.

Mr Gold waved a hand towards the back of the house, limping towards it with his gun raised. He was surprisingly quiet when he wanted to be.

‘Stop,’ Belle said, not daring to raise her voice. ‘Mr Gold, wait, I’ll call Emma.’

‘No you won’t,’ said a voice in her ear.

Hook.

‘ _Mr Gold!_ ’ Belle shouted, but Hook had spun away from her and turned off the light and she didn’t know where he’d gone or if Mr Gold had seen him before the light went.

She dived back towards the switch. Mr Gold had heard her warning anyway and he wasn’t making any noise. Hopefully he’d be listening for Hook, ready to shoot for when she got the light.

She reached the switch and light once again flooded the room. Belle blinked frantically and in a split second saw Mr Gold, his head turned to one side as he surveyed the room, and she saw Hook; sword raised, charging, barely meters away from Mr Gold…

Belle tried to shout a warning but she was far, far too late.

The sword went through Mr Gold’s suit with ease and plunged into his chest.

He screamed and Belle flinched backwards, horrified, her mind going blank, nausea rose and a single thought swirled around: _what if Regina was wrong and Mr Gold didn’t have Rumple’s magic?_

The pirate stood over him, with an expression of utter victory and triumph.

Then Hook withdrew the sword and Belle leapt forward, catching Rumple as he fell backwards.

For a moment, the world seemed to stop there. The three of them, in Rumple’s house. Mr Gold, bleeding in her arms, with Hook standing over them, gripping the sword, Rumple’s blood dripping off the blade.

Hook was the first to move. His smile dimming as he stared down at them. ‘Why aren’t you dead?’

Slowly, very slowly, Mr Gold lowered his chin and looked down at the hole in his chest. He lifted a hand and, extending one finger, touched it gently, as if to check it was really there, and flinched. He didn’t show any sign that he’d heard Hook.

‘It’s okay,’ Belle told him quietly, unsure what else to do. He had Rumple’s magic. He wasn’t going to die. He _wasn’t_ going to die. ‘It’s going to be okay.’

The Dark One couldn’t be killed by ordinary weapons, but Mr Gold didn’t know how to heal it and there was a lot of blood, spreading over his chest... Belle fumbled at her pocket for her phone. She’d never seen Regina heal but Emma apparently had magic. Emma could help them.

‘Oh bloody hell,’ Hook said suddenly. ‘There’s magic here. _He’s_ got magic. Why didn’t she tell me he had magic?’

Belle ignored him, taking Mr Gold’s hand as she raised the phone, hoping she could offer him some kind of comfort. The world had taken on a surreal quality but Belle knew she had to stay focused. She had to help him, she had to believe she _could_ help him.

‘Magic…?’ Mr Gold asked, his voice quiet and a little shaky.

‘Yes,’ Belle said, trying to keep her own voice steady. ‘Magic. There’s magic here, _you_ have magic. It’s why you’re going to be okay.’ She squeezed his hand ‘I promise I’ll tell you everything, I’ve just got to call someone who can help first.’

‘Oh no, you don’t.’ Hook had seized her arm before Belle had even realised he’d moved toward her. To avoid hurting Mr Gold any more, Belle allowed herself to be dragged to her feet, twisting so that she could lower him gently to the floor, but he still gasped at the movement. The second Belle was clear of Mr Gold, she shook loose from the pirate’s grip.

She glared at him. ‘You failed. There’s magic here and you can’t hurt him. What difference does it make if I call someone?’

Hook pointed the sword at her, its blade still gleaming red. ‘For one thing I’d rather avoid the notice of whoever you’re calling. For another… well, love, he might not remember now, but you’re important to him and I can’t hurt him physically.’ He grinned.

Belle took a step back, trying to move closer to any kind of weapon, while also moving away from Mr Gold. Wounds couldn’t kill him, but Belle had no idea how much pain he felt from them. If that awful scream had been any indication… Belle swallowed back nausea.

‘Magic,’ Mr Gold muttered again, from the floor.

Hook spared him a brief disdainful look. ‘It’s almost worth it. Seeing him like that as I capture you. He has – ‘ Hook advanced on Belle ‘– no idea what you mean to him.’

‘You can heal that wound,’ Belle called to Mr Gold, as her hand fastened around the top of a vase.

Everything she’d read about magic said the user had to take time to learn how to use it. Was it the same with Rumple’s curse? Was it the same when Mr Gold (Rumple) technically already knew how to use magic? She had no idea, but maybe letting him know he could would give him a chance. Even if it didn’t, just the idea might be enough to distract Hook and all she needed was for him to look to the side just for a second.

‘No, no,’ Mr Gold said, seemingly to himself, his voice thin and pained. ‘It’s impossible. It’s all impossible.’

That wasn’t enough of a distraction to make Hook turn to look, and Belle shifted uncomfortably. She wanted to comfort Mr Gold, to help him through it, but Hook was after her and if she kept backing away, she’d have to find another potential weapon… or she could risk swinging the vase and just hope she hit Hook. It didn’t seem likely. He had a sword and it had far better reach than her vase.

Although it hadn’t sounded like he wanted to kill her – yet – so maybe, just maybe, she could risk it.

_Where_ had Mr Gold’s gun gone?

A flash of movement in her peripheral vision made Belle look around and she froze. Mr Gold was rising to his feet, examining the hole in his clothes… and the now smooth skin of his chest where before there’d been the bleeding wound. Both relieved and confused, for a moment Belle couldn’t look away.

Hook was also staring at him.

‘Magic appears to be real,’ Mr Gold said.

Stepping forward, Belle swung the vase at Hook’s head with all her strength. It shattered, bits of pottery flying off and Belle staggered, shielding her face. Hook dropped to the floor, groaning, not quite unconscious, and Belle kicked the sword away from him.

Mr Gold blinked, frowned, then blinked again.

‘Miss French,’ he said, ‘that vase was quite expensive.’

‘Oh.’ Belle looked at the shattered vase, her hands shaking. ‘Well… I think you can fix it. Um, with magic.’

Mr Gold’s forehead wrinkled as he looked first at her, then down at the broken vase, then to Hook and finally back up at her. Slowly, his expression changed, a distant look in his eyes.

‘I can feel it now,’ he said. ‘The magic. Now that I’ve used it.’

‘Okay,’ Belle said. It was a lot to take in and she had no idea how he was going to handle it. Absolutely no idea. He could have _died_ and she was shaking so hard she thought her legs might fold underneath her.

‘I think it’s always been there. Although… distant.’ Mr Gold was looking down at his hands, then his head came up and he stared at her, a cold light entering his eyes. ‘And you knew about it.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Belle said. ‘I should have told you. I was _going_ to tell you.’

Mr Gold didn’t seem to be listening. ‘ _Everyone_ knew about it. They’ve been keeping it from me. Laughing at me.’

‘We didn't think you’d believe us,’ Belle said, keeping her tone serious but light. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths. There was a lot of blood, on him, on her, on the floor, but he was okay. He was _alive_.

He refocused on her. ‘You didn’t think I’d _believe it_?’ His tone was low and dangerous. ‘Oh, I can’t imagine how you could have proved it to me. Perhaps something like… _this!’_

A fireball appeared as he flicked out a hand and Belle stared at it, taking an involuntary step back. Magic was supposed to take practice…

Determined not to let herself be afraid, not of Rumple, Belle stepped forward again. ‘You’re right. We could have proved it and I should have told you sooner. I’m sorry.’

The fireball vanished, but Mr Gold’s expression didn’t change. ‘ _You kept this from me!’_

‘Yes,’ Belle said. ‘I did. Because it was difficult to tell you. Because I was hoping to get your memories back before this became a problem. But I was going to tell you; I was _about_ to tell you.’

‘My memories?’ Mr Gold asked, his voice still containing barely suppressed rage, some of the antiques around the room rattled in their cases. ‘Of a year that apparently brought magic? Why couldn’t you just _tell me?_!’

‘Because I don’t just mean that. _This_ is what I was going to explain.’ Belle held his gaze. ‘I’ll tell you now, if you’ll let me. It’s a long story, and it _is_ hard to believe.’

‘Hard to believe? I-‘ Mr Gold swung around to face the door. ‘You! Do you think I’m going to let _you_ leave?’

Belle looked over and saw Hook making for the door. She hadn’t even noticed him stand.

‘Yes. You don’t know me.’ Hook took another step away.

‘You tried to kill me!’ Mr Gold snarled and for a second the windows shook in their frames.

‘Yes,’ Hook said again. ‘I did. And sadly I failed, but I’ll see you again. This isn’t over.’

Mr Gold cocked his head to one side. ‘Actually, I think it is.’

He pointed a finger at Hook and the pirate disappeared in a puff of red smoke that cleared to reveal… nothing.

‘What did you do?’ Belle asked warily.

Ignoring her, Mr Gold stepped forward his gaze fixed down at the floor. Belle frowned, and then she saw it. Down on the neat tiles was a snail. A snail that Mr Gold was approaching with smooth measured steps.

The fact that he’d left the cane on the floor briefly derailed Belle’s thoughts, and then it was too late.

‘No!’ Belle shouted.

The crunch of the snail’s shell was unnaturally loud in the big empty house.

His eyes holding an oddly detached look, Mr Gold twisted his shoe back and forth a few times, before casually wiping it on the front mat while Belle stared in horror.

It was impossible to work out what to say. Mr Gold could use Rumple’s magic, without the slightest problem, it seemed. And he didn’t mind killing.

‘Mr Gold,’ Belle said carefully. ‘That was murder.’

‘If killing a snail is murder, Miss French, then half the world belongs in prison,’ Mr Gold said evenly. Too evenly.

‘ _You_ turned him into a snail,’ Belle said, taking a step towards him, ‘and that makes it murder.’

‘But you see it isn’t _possible_ to turn someone into a snail,’ said Mr Gold, and _his_ hands were shaking, just a little, ‘and therefore is not mentioned in any law book.’

‘No,’ Belle admitted, still moving closer to him, ‘it isn’t. At least not in this world. Please, come and sit down and I’ll tell you _everything_.’

‘Not in this…?’ A muscle twitched in Mr Gold’s hand as he tried to grip his cane, slowly his gaze moved across the room and he saw it, lying on the floor.  He stared at his leg, as if that were harder to comprehend then the chest wound he’d just healed. ‘Not… in… this…?’

‘World,’ Belle said softly. She should have told him sooner, but she’d never imagined he’d have to find out like this.

‘There are no other worlds,’ said Mr Gold, proving that he had a stubborn streak to rival Emma’s. ‘That is science fiction. Fantasy.’

‘So is magic.’ Belle hated seeing the distress on his face.

Mr Gold’s hand had come up and he was lightly touching his chest again. Belle wasn’t sure he even knew he was doing it.

‘No,’ said Mr Gold, shaking his head. ‘No. I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this.’

Belle swallowed. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t change it. But I can help you understand.’

‘No,’ Mr Gold said again and Belle was right next to him. She reached out to touch his arm, to give him some measure of comfort and he pulled sharply away.

She could still see his right hand still reaching reflexively for his cane.

‘I can’t… I just need…’ Mr Gold was speaking through gritted teeth. He blinked, his forehead screwing up in confusion. ‘A moment...’

Red smoke billowed and Belle knew she was too slow even as she leapt forward, hoping to get hold of his arm, hoping to go with him. She dropped to the floor, her hand meeting only empty space where Mr Gold had been only a fraction of a second before.

‘Oh _no_ ,’ Belle whispered to the empty house.

____________________________

 

She took Mr Gold’s Cadillac.

Despite the fact that she seemed to know _how_ to drive, Belle had never actually been behind the wheel of a car before. She knew her driving was erratic, possibly extremely dangerous… and that was probably because she was going twice the speed limit.

Mr Gold _must_ have gone to his shop. That was always what Mr Gold had done when she’d annoyed him. When he’d wanted a bit of peace and quiet, some time to calm down, he’d headed to the shop and often stayed there, overnight.

He’d said he needed a moment. So he’d be at the shop.

Maybe it would be better to actually give him a moment to take everything in, to accept that all that really had happened. Belle couldn’t do it. She had no idea what he was going to do, finding out that magic was real, that he had it, and that that was the only reason he was still alive.

Belle shuddered a little. She’d known he couldn’t die like that, and she was still sure she was going to have nightmares about it. She was careful not to look down at her clothes, which were stained with Rumple’s blood.

If only she’d told him!

She’d been so close to doing just that, but if she hadn’t left it so late… Excuses were one thing, but deep down Belle knew she hadn’t told him because it had felt like acceptance. Telling Mr Gold about their world had felt like giving up and saying Rumple wasn’t coming back.

He _was_ coming back. She _would_ get him back.

For the moment though… For the moment there was Mr Gold, with magic, loose in Storybrooke.

He was scared, almost certainly angry, and he had enough magic to completely level the town if the mood took him. And if he decided he was going to there was nothing she could do to stop him.

Except, there was.

Buried just outside of town was the one thing that was _guaranteed_ to stop him. She could almost certainly get it before he did too much damage, then she could stop him and… then what? _Order_ him to never hurt anyone? That would mean keeping the knife and controlling him indefinitely. Belle felt sick just thinking about it.

Mr Gold couldn’t even move to stop her from retrieving the knife, because he didn’t know it existed. He didn’t know the danger and she didn’t want to hold that threat over his head.

And Rumple was in there somewhere. Masked by Mr Gold, but definitely still there.

Belle remembered Rumple’s reaction when he’d realised she knew about the knife. He’d been afraid. Angry, sure, but also afraid.

The knife had to stay where it was, because Belle knew she could never betray Rumple by using it.

She’d known as much when she’d refused to tell Snow and David where to find it.

Which meant she needed a different plan.

Despite everything, Belle felt certain that even a cursed version of Rumple would never hurt her. That meant she could get close to him; she could reason with him. While Mr Gold hadn’t exactly seemed open to reason, Belle knew she had to try.  He’d just suffered a massive shock; of _course_ he hadn’t listened to her straight away.

He’d also already killed once and she had no idea what he’d do next.

Belle skidded the Cadillac to a stop outside the pawnshop and ran for the door, ignoring the surprised stares from people on the street.

A loud crash rang out from inside the shop.

Belle dived inside… and saw Regina, held by an invisible force on one side of the shop, where she’d clearly crashed through one of the shelves. Items from the shelves lay scattered and broken across the floor, crunching underneath Mr Gold’s shoes as he advanced on Regina.

‘No! Stop!’ Belle shouted, but Mr Gold didn’t so much as glance in her direction.

‘ _Do you think you’re funny_?’ Mr Gold snarled at Regina. ‘Do you think _this_ is funny _?_!’

Regina just about managed to shake her head. ‘I wasn’t… making… a… joke.’

‘Oh _really_?’ Mr Gold’s fingers twitched and Regina gasped.

‘I said _stop_!’ Belle put herself between Mr Gold and Regina, fastening a hand around his wrist. Behind her she heard Regina fall to the floor.

‘Get _off_ me!’ Mr Gold jerked his arm free and Belle stumbled forward.

‘I wasn’t making fun of you,’ Regina said from behind Belle, her voice hoarse but laced with a challenge, ‘but if you want to know what a magical fight is like then that’s fine by me!’

Belle’s eyes widened as she saw Regina summon up fire.

‘Regina don’t!’ Belle _knew_ Regina would think Mr Gold was having difficulty controlling the magic. She had to warn her. ‘He isn’t having any prob-‘

‘That is _enough_!’ Mr Gold jabbed a hand in Regina’s direction and Regina’s eyes rolled up into her head, the fire disappearing as she fell to the floor.

Belle dived for her, hoping she’d find a pulse, knowing she didn’t have time to look. Regina was right by the side door to the shop, so there was still a chance. She wrapped her arms around Regina’s still body and backed up against the door, pushing it open…

She risked a glance behind her, but Mr Gold hadn’t moved. He was staring at his hand with something akin to dismay. Briefly, Belle allowed herself to hope that maybe she could still reason with him, but she couldn’t risk the same thing happening to Regina as it had to Hook.

The door slammed behind her and Belle winced at the noise. That could have knocked Mr Gold out of his confused state and if he came after them Belle knew she couldn’t run with Regina. She could barely even drag Regina and Mr Gold could come out after her at any moment.

Leaning Regina against the wall, and checking she was breathing, which she _was_ , thankfully, Belle fumbled for her phone.

‘Belle?’

Instinctively, Belle jumped between Regina and the voice, belatedly realising that a) the door hadn’t opened and b) Mr Gold was unlikely to sound that calm. David stared at her worriedly, his eyes flicking towards Regina.

‘What happened? Is Regina alright?’ His eyes widened when he saw the blood on her clothes. ‘Are _you_ alright?’

‘I’m fine.’ Belle slung one of Regina’s arms over her shoulder. David’s truck was right there, and that was probably the only way she was going to get Regina away from Mr Gold. ‘Help me with her!’

‘What?’ Despite sounding bewildered David was doing what he was told, getting around Regina and lifting her; a lot more easily than Belle had. ‘What’s going on?’

‘We _have_ to get her away from here!’

David must have caught the urgency in her tone because he didn’t ask any more questions. They half ran with Regina, bundling her into David’s truck.

‘Let’s get her back to my place,’ David had the truck in gear and moving almost before she’d sat down, and was glancing in the mirror for any signs of pursuit.

Belle wasn’t. She shrunk down in her seat, hoping that if Mr Gold didn’t see her in the car, he might not realise that David had Regina.

‘Is he following?’ she asked.

‘Who?’ David asked. ‘He? I thought Cora must have done this!’

‘No.’ Belle said, hanging on as David dragged the truck around the corner. ‘Mr Gold did.’

‘Mr _Gold_? What did he do, hit her?’ David glanced back to Regina. ‘Not shoot her surely.’ His next glance back was a little more panicky, probably searching for blood on Regina. ‘Belle?’

‘I don’t _know_ what he did,’ Belle said, risking straightening up in her seat, ‘but it was with magic.’

David jerked the car to a stop outside his, Emma’s and Snow’s apartment. ‘He _what_? But Mr Gold can’t use magic!' 

Belle jumped out of the car. ‘He can now.’

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

Belle sat at the table, her head in her hands.

‘What did she _say_ to him?’ Snow asked and Belle didn’t know whether she should be there, with Snow and David, when she knew she couldn’t trust them, but what else could she do? They had to know that Mr Gold had magic.

‘I don’t know,’ Belle said, frustrated. ‘I didn’t hear that.’

She wasn’t sure Regina would have had to say much, given Mr Gold’s mood when he’d left the house.

‘And you say you _didn’t_ get around to telling him about the curse and everything?’ David was sending worried glances over at where Regina lay on the bed, Emma standing beside her, hands outstretched, trying to magically wake her and achieving, as far as Belle could tell, nothing at all.

‘I told you, no!’ Belle looked up. ‘Hook came out of nowhere and he stabbed him and then Mr Gold…’

Snow stood in the kitchen, hands braced on the counter. ‘Are you _sure_ he’s still Mr Gold?’

‘I know Rumple when I see him,’ Belle said sharply. ‘And he’s _certainly_ not alarmed by magic.’

‘No, I guess not,’ said David.

‘I should have just _told_ him as soon as we got back from the town line.’

Snow put a hand on her arm. ‘We _all_ advised you not to, it’s not your fault.’

Belle shook her head. ‘It _is_ my fault. I knew it would be better to tell him. I _knew_ he’d figure it out eventually. He’d noticed so many different things, everyone’s _names_ , the rumours about the town line… he was _always_ going to find out and now…’

 ‘Now you need to shut up so I can concentrate!’ Emma said tossing her hair out of her face.

Belle pursed her lips and tried not to take that personally.

David leaned forward. ‘Regina was teaching you to use magic, maybe just think back to-‘

‘She wanted me to be angry,’ Emma said, ‘and to be completely honest I _am_ angry right now because we’ve got Regina’s _mother_ running around and no one can find her and now we’ve got Mr Gold doing… god only knows what. Neal’s apparently _Rumplestiltskin’s_ son and I want a break and instead I have to stand here, trying to wake _Regina_ because she couldn’t resist provoking someone who she _knows_ has more magic!’

‘Emma…’ Snow said.

‘And it’s not working,’ Emma added, glaring down at Regina. ‘How come Mr Gold just finds out he has magic and can suddenly do whatever the hell he wants?’

‘Could have been the _way_ he found out,’ David said.

Belle flinched; the image of Hook lunging forward with his sword was etched into her vision. If only she could have spared him that.

‘Well, it’s got to be because he’s the Dark One,’ Snow said. ‘The Blue Fairy once mentioned that that curse is… different.’

‘Different how?’ Belle asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Snow said, frowning. ‘She doesn’t like to discuss dark magic, but I think it’s very different from learning to use magic you’re born with.’

David shrugged, looking over at Emma and Regina again. ‘Well, I think we need to go ask her.’

‘Will she help Regina?’ Belle asked, a little sourly. ‘She refused to help Rumple.’

‘Oh.’ Snow sent a worried look at David. ‘You might have a point there, and Blue said magic is very different for her here, particularly without any fairy dust… she might _not_ be able to so anything.’

Emma sat back. ‘Well, we’re going to have to think of something, because this magic thing? I don’t think I’m a natural at it.’ She winced as she looked down at Regina.

‘Belle?’ Snow asked. ‘You’ve been looking through all those magic books, maybe there was something…?’

Belle shook her head. ‘I was looking for memory spells, not… not _this_.’

‘I _think_ she’s just sleeping,’ Snow said. ‘She might just wake up by herself.’

‘If she was sleeping I think Belle and I might have woken her up on the way here,’ David pointed out.

A knock came at the door and Belle found herself eyeing the door warily. Snow, however, started straight towards it.

‘Mary Margaret,’ said David.

Snow offered a smile. ‘The Dark One doesn’t knock, David.’

In Belle’s experience that was true but… ‘He’s not the Dark One. He’s Mr Gold.’

‘Well, actually,’ David said, ‘if he’s got the magic isn’t he still the Dark One?’

‘Hey, can you guys let me in?’ Neal’s voice was slightly muffled by the door.

Snow gave David a shrug and pulled open the door, letting in Neal and Henry.

Belle let her head fall back into her hands, thinking; _I’m going to have to explain to him that Mr Gold’s using dark magic_.

‘Belle,’ Neal said, in an unfriendly tone. ‘Did he kick you out?’

‘ _Neal_ ,’ Snow said.

Belle felt herself go very still. Would Rumple mind, she wondered, if she slapped Baelfire?

‘Oh yeah!’ Henry said. ‘You were going to tell Mr Gold everything. How’d it go? Did he believe you? Did he like my book?’ He saw Regina. ‘What’s my mom doing here?’

‘Neal, your dad’s using magic,’ Emma said. ‘And he’s knocked out Regina, how the hell do we reverse it?’

‘He’s using _magic_?’ Henry asked, running up to Regina. ‘Is she going to be okay?’

‘Belle _what_ … I _told_ you not to tell him! I _told_ you, the last thing we want is my dad running around with all that magic, but you just couldn’t-‘

Belle lunged. She’d got up, out of her chair, and was raising her hand before she’d even thought it through. David intercepted her, grabbing hold of her arm.

‘Belle, _stop_.’

Neal took a step back, staring at her in shock, but Belle was trembling with rage.

‘Don’t you _dare_ act like this is all his fault! Rumple isn’t even _there_. And if he didn’t have his magic, he’d be dead right now, because that’s what _happens_ when someone stabs you through the chest!’

Neal’s eyes widened.

David let go of her arm but stayed in front of her. ‘Belle, it’s not Neal’s fault either, okay? We’ll fix this. Just sit down and we’ll call the Blue Fairy and I’m sure Regina will be fine.’

Emma shot a glance over at them. ‘Henry, we’ll have Regina awake in no time, but go wait in your room for now.’

‘Do I have to?’ Henry asked, while Belle let herself collapse back into a chair.

She shouldn’t have tried to hit Neal. She _really_ shouldn’t have tried to hit Neal, but Rumple’s blood was still on her shirt and he’d screamed and he’d been scared and she hadn’t been able to do _anything_.

‘Yeah, kid, you do,’ Emma said. ‘I’ll fill you in later.’

‘I’d rather dad fill me in,’ Henry said. ‘At least he won’t _lie_.’

And he ran upstairs.

‘ _Henry…_ ’ Emma said, taking a single step after him. ‘Damn.’ She walked back over to join the rest of them.

‘Is anyone going to tell me what’s happened here?’ Neal said, avoiding looking at Belle. ‘My dad… he… he got _stabbed_?’

‘By Captain Hook,’ David said and Neal frowned again.

‘He healed himself,’ Belle mumbled. ‘That’s how he knows he has magic.’

‘Right. Uh, good. No, I mean, not good that he has magic…’ Neal scratched his beard, his eyes darting between them. ‘Can someone just tell me _exactly_ what happened?’

Filling Neal in didn’t take very long, and Belle let Snow and David do it. She didn’t want to have to field his snide remarks about Rumple, but surprisingly he took it quite well. Maybe it was because he was already over the shock of finding out Mr Gold was running around using Rumple’s magic, although Belle wanted to believe it was because he actually cared that Rumple had been injured, if only temporarily.

‘Well, that’s quite a story,’ came Regina’s voice from over at the bed.

‘Regina?’ Emma turned around as the Evil Queen swung her legs off the bed.

‘And there was I just thinking he’d worked out that he had magic.’

‘He did,’ Snow said. ‘Just not… by himself.’

‘That little imp hit me with a sleeping spell,’ Regina complained.

‘ _Why_?’ Belle asked. ‘ _Why_ did he hit you with a sleeping spell?’

‘I saw him appear in his shop,’ Regina said. ‘With magic, so naturally I thought he was Rumple and I went to speak to him, but he wasn’t. It was Mr Gold and let me tell you, he was _not_ happy.’ Regina sat down at the table. ‘He was demanding to know what was going on, so I told him.’

Belle stared at her. ‘You told him?’

‘Yes. I _knew_ you’d been planning to, bookworm, but obviously something had gone wrong, and I told him about the Enchanted Forest and he _seemed_ to be listening and then he just flipped out.’

‘Why am I not surprised?’ Neal muttered, but he didn’t look over at Belle.

For her own part, Belle suspected there was more to that story. ‘What did you tell him just before he lost his temper?’

‘I told him he was Rumplestiltskin,’ said Regina and Belle looked at her in disbelief. ‘He wasn’t impressed.’

‘Wow, I wonder why?’ Emma said, rolling her eyes.

‘It’s the _truth,_ ’ Regina complained.

Belle had been planning to ease him into that one, first making sure he believed the rest of what she was saying… Regina, apparently, hadn’t been so careful.

‘Great so my – ‘ Neal stopped, sighed, and his eyes flicked over to Belle, before turning back to Regina ‘ – so Mr Gold now isn’t going to believe a word you say because he thinks you just insulted him. And he’s angry _and_ he’s got all that magic. Wow. I think I’m just gonna stay away from you for a while.’

A short silence descended over the room as they took in Neal’s words.

‘Yeah, Regina?’ Emma said. ‘Do you want to maybe keep your distance from Henry over the next few days? Just in case Gold _is_ after you.’

‘No,’ Regina snapped. ‘I can handle him.’

And Belle stared at her in complete and utter disbelief.

‘Uh, no you can’t,’ said Neal.

‘You really can’t,’ Snow agreed.

‘Fine. I can’t. But he’s hardly going to attack _Henry_ just because he’s near…’

‘He might,’ Neal said. ‘You guys didn’t see him just after he first got all that magic. I never would have believed it but it actually sounds like he’s gathered a bit more control since. Man, you really didn’t want to be the person that slightly inconvenienced him back then.’

Belle traced a pattern on the table with her fingertip. Had Rumple been that bad when he’d first taken on his curse?

‘And now he’s already killed Hook,’ David said. ‘We really need a plan.’

‘No,’ Snow said, ‘we already have a plan. Now, more than ever, Belle, we need that dagger.’

‘ _No_.’ Belle didn’t know how she could be any clearer on that point. ‘It’s far safer where it is, and I _won’t_ have anyone controlling him.’

‘Whoa,’ Neal said, his voice rising. ‘You’re talking about _that_ dagger? And you _want_ it? Are you nuts?’

‘That’s what I said.’ Belle let herself relax a little. For this, if nothing else, Rumple’s son was on her side.

‘Cora wants the dagger,’ David said, his eyes darted towards Regina. ‘And I understand the argument for leaving where it is, but now that Mr Gold has magic, don’t you think it would be better if we could stop him from hurting anyone else?’

‘I’m fine,’ Regina muttered. ‘I just… didn’t see that coming. That’s all.’

Snow shot her a look. ‘Hook isn’t. Anyway, we _need_ the dagger, Belle.’

‘No, no no!’ Neal said. ‘You don’t. Trust me, you don’t want it. No matter what you think you can do with it, it’s better hidden.’ He turned to Emma. ‘Promise me, Emma, that you’ll never touch that thing?’

‘Uh, sure.’ Emma frowned at him. ‘I agree with Belle, anyway. Anyone would realise that the obvious move is now for us to look for it, so Cora will follow us. We could lead her right to it.’

‘I won’t let him be controlled,’ Belle said again, just to make sure they all understood.

‘ _Definitely_ not,’ Neal said and then frowned at her. ‘Wait, are you telling me you know where it is?’

‘I didn’t believe her either,’ Regina put in. ‘But apparently she does.’

‘My father actually _told you_ where it is?’ Neal’s expression was one of complete and utter disbelief.

‘Yes.’ Belle held her chin up. ‘And it’s staying there.’

‘No, yeah. Full agreement on that one.’ Neal waved a hand. ‘But he _told you_?’

A thousand different retorts sprung to her lips, most of them along the vein of ‘ _why wouldn’t he?’._ Except Neal was right in that case. Rumple had been so, so protective of the knife.

‘He told me,’ Belle confirmed. ‘Because we were working on _trusting_ each other.’ She couldn’t tell him the full story, not without revealing where it was. ‘He wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, but we were making progress.’

‘Okay… well that’s…’ Neal shook his head, ‘…weird.’

‘If we leave the dagger where it is,’ said Snow, ‘how are we supposed to stop the Dark One going on a rampage?’

‘That’s simple,’ Belle said. ‘I’ll talk to him.’

_____________________________

 

Belle approached the shop by herself, but with Regina, Emma and Neal waiting across the street. She’d told them they didn’t need to be there, that it wouldn’t help and that she was going in alone regardless. Waiting across the street was a kind of compromise that Belle was fairly sure wouldn’t help _at all_ if Mr Gold did decided to attack her, which he wouldn’t because deep down he was still her Rumplestiltskin.

She reached for the handle and pain flew up her arm, stinging and tingling, and Belle yelped.

Emma, Regina and Neal were there in an instant.

‘You okay?’ Emma asked, and Belle nodded rubbing her arm.

‘What _was_ that?’ asked Neal.

Regina examined the door critically. ‘Protection spell.’

‘Mr Gold cast a protection spell?’ Emma asked. ‘But you were saying magic like that is more difficult and he realised he had magic, what? A few hours ago? What if that’s Cora who’s cast that?’

‘It’s not.’ Regina said.

‘How can you be sure?’ Neal was keeping a healthy distance away from the door.

‘Because, first of all, he’s the Dark One, and he _does_ know how to do this, even if he doesn’t consciously remember _and_ – ‘ Regina turned an irritated look on Neal ‘ – I’d know my mother’s magic if I saw it.’

‘Oh. Good.’ Neal eyed the door. ‘I think.’

‘Surely Cora wouldn’t go near him before she had the dagger,’ Belle said. ‘And she hasn’t even tried to ask me yet.’

‘Maybe Hook didn’t tell her,’ Emma mused.

‘Or she’s just biding her time.’ Regina took a step back, looking the building up and down. ‘If you ask me, he told her, and she sent him after Mr Gold to test if he had magic. Now _that_ would be like my mother.’

‘Great,’ Emma said.

‘What the hell kind of mother do you have?’ asked Neal.

Regina turned on him. ‘Says the son of the _Dark One_.’

‘Okay, yeah, fair enough.’

Belle, being careful not to touch it, peered in through the window. It looked… tidy, actually. The mess of broken things was gone and the shelf Regina had crashed into was standing in its usual place, without so much as a scratch. Mr Gold wasn’t at the desk. Belle craned her neck, trying to get a better look, but if Mr Gold was in there, she couldn’t see him.

Regina held out a hand for a moment, frowned and turned back to Emma. ‘Emma, I might be able to break this, but I need your help.’

‘You want to break into his shop?’ asked Neal. ‘I really don’t think that’s a good idea.’

‘Oh please,’ said Regina, ‘who’s the one person here who actually _knows_ Mr Gold?’

‘Me,’ said Belle.

‘Okay,’ Regina said, conceding the point faster than Belle had expected. ‘But I spent twenty-eight years awake under the curse and he was Mr Gold then.’

‘I’m telling you,’ Belle said, ‘he’s not going to be happy if you break that protection spell.’

‘And I’m telling you that he can take it any damn way he pleases, but he’ll get over it.’ Regina tossed her head. ‘ _You’re_ the one who wanted to speak to him.’

‘Okay, guys, knock it off,’ Emma said. ‘I’m not sure I do want to force this open. Feels a bit like poking a sleeping dragon and… been there, done that.’

‘I want to talk to him,’ Belle said, ‘not provoke a fight with him. If you force your way into the shop… he won’t take it well. He’s already threatened to shoot several people who didn’t leave when he asked.’

‘Yes,’ Regina said, ‘I was one of them.’

‘You can’t get in,’ Neal said. ‘You don’t want to force our way in, makes sense, but, what now?’

‘I guess,’ Belle said slowly, ‘I go back to the library and go home as usual.’

‘He could already be at the house,’ Emma suggested.

Regina rolled her eyes. ‘Why would he put a protection spell around the shop and then leave?’

‘He wouldn’t,’ Neal said.

Belle eyed the pawnshop again. It _was_ eerily quiet, but she was sure Mr Gold was in there, through the curtain in the back of the shop, possibly drinking. She decided not to pass that on. The last thing she needed was Emma and Regina breaking down the protection spell because they were afraid of a drunken Dark One.

No. Better to wait at the house and wait for him to come and see her when he was ready.

Which hopefully he _would_ do, rather than deciding to attack the people who’d been lying to him.

_____________________________

 

Three days. No sign of Mr Gold. No sign of Cora either, and Snow and David were getting increasingly anxious about Belle living in the big house by herself with Cora on the loose.

For Belle’s part… she was considering going to Boston. She was the only one who knew where Rumple’s knife was. If she left then he’d be safe. It would _hurt_ to leave him but regardless of what happened, she’d be guaranteeing his safety, and when the heroes had defeated Cora she could come back and help bring Rumple back.

Surely the fairies would have found something by then, and they weren’t _planning_ on giving any to Rumple, but if Belle could get Regina a good look at what they did, then maybe she could replicate it. Maybe.

The main thing holding her back was leaving Mr Gold alone, knowing no one else _really_ cared what happened to him. Neal was there now. That _should_ make a difference. He might not get along with Mr Gold, but Belle liked to think he wouldn’t see his father hurt.

She made herself tea, pouring into their chipped cup.

Could she _really_ leave him alone in Storybrooke?

It _was_ the best thing for him and True Love wasn’t supposed to be easy, was it? It was something you fought for, with every bit of your soul and Belle was more than prepared to do that for Rumple. He loved more deeply than anyone she’d ever known. Since she’d found him in Storybrooke Belle had seen so much of that, and never had she felt so secure in someone’s love. Despite all Rumple’s mistakes, all his Darkness, she had never once since waking up in Storybrooke doubted his love.

If a temporary separation was what he needed, then that was what she would do.

Belle took a deep breath… and froze.

She stared down into her cup.

No. Definitely tea.

So why did she smell coffee?

Keeping a tight hold on her cup, Belle forced herself to walk slowly and calmly into the dining room.

He sat there, at the table, just like so many other mornings. His hands wrapped around the coffee mug, shoulders slightly hunched, the pre-coffee frown still creasing his forehead.

Belle opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She swallowed, licked her lips and tried again. ‘Mr Gold?’

His eyes flicked up from the coffee, and he tensed.

‘Miss French,’ said Mr Gold evenly.

He looked normal, he sounded normal, and he hadn’t killed anyone else in his three day absence, as far as she knew.

‘Mr Gold,’ Belle said again, her knees nearly giving away from the relief of seeing him there. He was there and she had the sudden urge to rush into things in case he left again. ‘I’d still like to have that conversation with you. If you want.’

His hands tightened around the coffee mug. ‘Does the conversation begin with; ‘ _magic is real’_? Because I think I may have worked through that one already.’

Belle sat down, not _right_ next to him because Mr Gold was giving off very clear _keep away_ vibes and if ever there was a time when she needed to respect his personal space, then this was it.

‘I’m sorry.’

She wasn’t entirely sure what she was apologising for. Maybe her failure to get his memories back to him before all this had happened.

Mr Gold inclined his head. ‘The sudden appearance of a sword wielding maniac was not your fault.’

Belle covered a smile, that seemed completely inappropriate, but he was there and he was talking to her and he was making one of his normal jokes. ‘No. No, it wasn’t. I still should have told you sooner.’

‘Hmm.’ Mr Gold swirled the coffee around the mug, went to speak, hesitated, and then sighed. ‘I read that book.’

That book…? Belle had so many books lying around she struggled for a moment to work out which one he was talking about, then it hit her. She’d never returned Henry’s book to him.

‘The, um, the one I was holding the other night?’

‘The very same.’ Mr Gold wasn’t looking at her. ‘Its story bore a remarkable similarity to the tale Regina attempted to tell me.’

_Before you threw her across the shop_ , Belle stopped the words from leaving her mouth.

‘I know,’ Belle said instead, biting her lip. ‘It’s all true.’

His eyes closed, he took a deep breath, and didn’t relax at all. The table wobbled slightly.

‘Miss French,’ he ground out, ‘if this is some kind of joke…’

‘If you thought it was,’ Belle said, ‘you wouldn’t have mentioned the book.’

Mr Gold took a long drink from his coffee. Frowned at it.

‘Is it, do you think, too early for whiskey?’

‘It is,’ Belle said firmly.

‘Hmm.’

‘I’m going to start talking now,’ Belle told him, dredging up some of the words she’d planned for him days before, ‘to fill in what the book doesn’t say. You don’t have to say anything, you don’t have to believe what I’m saying, but I do want you to promise to hear me out.’

Mr Gold considered that. ‘Deal.’

The word cut right through her prepared speech and Belle looked up sharply, but Mr Gold looked unhappy and mildly suspicious, and was not grinning like someone who had just spent the last ten minutes pulling her leg.

‘Okay,’ Belle said and decided this time she _was_ going to dive off at the deep end. ‘Okay. The first thing I need you to know is your name is – was – Rumplestiltskin.’

_____________________________

 

‘And he didn’t put _you_ under a sleeping spell?’ Regina demanded, ‘or turn you into a snail?’

‘No,’ Belle said shortly.

Mr Gold hadn’t been happy though, and he hadn’t said much on the subject since. Belle had tried to engage him a few times and been told, mostly politely, where to shove her questions. She had to give him _space_. The constant questions, her hovering presence, had to be driving him mad, particularly when he was trying to deal with everything she’d told him.

Mr Gold, Belle reminded herself for what felt like the thousandth time, liked his personal space. She’d been worrying about that _before_ the incident with Hook.

Rumple had been lonely… Mr Gold, less so. Maybe a little though. Maybe a lot. It was hard to tell.

He was so _distant_ now. And getting more so with every day.

Boston lurked at the back of her mind. Would it be abandoning Rumple? No. She’d come back for Rumple, when it was safe. Would it be abandoning Mr Gold? Well. Probably. Who else was going to patiently explain things to him? Who else was going to think to warn him when the next threat popped up?

If she left he’d be _safe_ , Belle reminded herself.

‘Hmpf,’ said Regina. ‘I wonder if he’s carried some of that anger Rumple was bottling up against me.’

‘You mean because you locked me up?’ Belle said and wished she hadn’t. Regina _was_ trying, and it didn’t help to antagonise her. _Particularly_ not when Cora was still trying to get Regina on her side.

It was also the mostly likely reason for why Cora hadn’t moved directly against Belle herself yet, because she _had_ heard that Belle knew where the dagger was. They knew that now. The longer Regina could keep the charade of swaying allegiances, the better. Belle just hoped it _was_ a charade.

‘Belle,’ Emma said, ‘we’ve been thinking. You’re a target for Cora, and we can’t change that.’

‘No, I know,’ Belle said. Emma had once suggested they send Mr Gold over the town line to safety, was she about to come to the same conclusion Belle had?

‘We think you should be with either Regina, me, or Mr Gold at all times,’ Emma said. ‘Yeah, I know it’s going to feel a bit like babysitting, but at some point Cora _is_ going to come after you.’

‘That sounds a _lot_ like babysitting,’ Belle agreed, thinking the idea over. ‘Are you having more luck with magic then?’

Regina snorted. ‘No. She isn’t.’

Emma glared, before turning back to Belle. ‘We’re hoping that, if it actually comes down to a contest, I’ll be able to use it. Regina keeps saying magic is emotion, so it makes some sense.’

In some ways, it had been a relief when Belle had no longer needed to hang out with Regina every other day. This was… going to impose on Regina’s time, and worse, Mr Gold’s who she’d just been thinking about how she was crowding him. Emma would be nice about it, but in the end Emma was sheriff and trying to find Cora and Belle was beginning to think she was just about to become a case of pass-the-burden.

It would be temporary, Belle assured herself. She _would_ find enough courage to go to Boston and she _would_ come back and save Rumple, as soon as she could. There was one gaping hole in the plan.

‘Uh, can either of you actually match Cora’s magic, though?’

‘No,’ Regina said. ‘Of course we can’t, and I’m certainly not fighting my mother. If she comes for you, we can just transport you away, to the convent, where the fairies will look after to you until we’ve solved the problem.’

‘Mother Superior agreed,’ Emma said. ‘But Cora can’t know that’s where we’re sending you, and we don’t want to do it until we’re sure she’s making her move, because then you’ll be stuck there.’

Stuck with the people who refused to help Rumple under any circumstances. Belle sighed inwardly. She _could_ tell them about her own plan but if _that_ got to Cora, it would force her hand.

No. She’d agree to Emma and Regina’s plan (which she doubted they’d told Mr Gold about) and prepare to leave for Boston. She’d take a few of the magical books with her, some of the ones she’d been struggling to translate, that way, she’d still be actively doing something for Rumple. And she would not seek sanctuary with the Blue Fairy.

In the meantime… there was one more thing Mr Gold needed to know before she left, and Belle had an apology to make.

 


	12. Chapter 12

 

‘Neal?’ Belle asked, approaching him as he watched Henry on the playground. Regina lurked behind her, out of earshot and annoyed to be on babysitting duty – or she had been, until Belle had gone near Henry.

Neal half turned. ‘Yeah?’

Belle stopped next to him. ‘I, uh, I wanted to apologise.’

‘Oh, right.’

‘I’m really sorry I tried to hit you,’ Belle said. A dozen different excuses sprung to mind, but they were just that; excuses. There’d been no good reason for it. ‘You, uh, you probably know more about him than I do and I probably should have listened to you more.’

Neal scuffed a shoe into the ground. ‘Yeah, well. Emma was telling me what you’ve been dealing with the last couple of months and, so, you know, apology accepted.’

Belle felt a weight lift off her shoulders. ‘Thank you.’

‘So…’ Neal said. ‘You actually love him?’

‘I do,’ Belle said. ‘And I miss him. It’s weird having him here, but not _here_.’

‘No kidding,’ Neal said. ‘When he didn’t know who I was, I swear…’

‘You _were_ pretty angry,’ Belle agreed.

‘Yeah.’

They stood there, shifting uncomfortably, and then Neal pointed to Henry.

‘That’s my son.’ He pulled a face. ‘I have a son and I didn’t even know it. Not that I can blame Emma, after what I did, but I’ve missed the first ten years of his life.’ Neal scrubbed a hand over his face. ‘I’m thinking it’s becoming a family tradition or something. I know dad didn’t grow up with his father and he left me and, well, here’s Henry.’

Rumple hadn’t grown up with his father? She hadn’t known that.

Belle opened her mouth to tell him Rumple regretted leaving him, realised she’d already told him, and said instead; ‘Henry knows it’s not your fault.’

‘Oh yeah, I mean, he’s angry at Emma instead, but hey, they’re working through it.’ Neal hesitated and gave her a sideways look. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but you seem like a nice person and yet… you and pop?’ He gave a little grin. ‘You’re not going to, uh, try and hit me again for that, are you?’

‘Maybe,’ Belle said, and Neal’s grin widened. ‘It was complicated,’ she admitted.

‘It would have to be.’

Belle thought about Neal and everything he’d said about Rumple. ‘I… well you said a few things about Rumple before and I was wondering… was he very different, before the magic?’

Neal gave a derisive laugh. ‘Oh man, you have no idea.’

Belle frowned. ‘No. I don’t. That’s why I’m asking.’

‘Sorry.’ Neal winced. ‘Look, I don’t mean to piss you off – again – but didn’t he tell you any of this? He told you about me.’

‘Yes, he did tell me about you. But… I don’t know, he didn’t like talking about it and, uh, you don’t either, do you?’ Belle found herself feeling a little guilty. ‘I was just curious. Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. It’s probably not fair to him either, asking behind his back.’

‘Uhhh.’ Neal rubbed a hand over his face. ‘Damn. You really care about him, and I _still_ can’t believe he told you where that damned dagger is. He’s killed people over that you know?’

Belle couldn’t say she was surprised. ‘I think it scares him.’

Anyone else, and she wouldn’t have admitted that, but this was Rumple’s son, this was _Baelfire_ and she didn’t think Rumple would mind her telling him.

‘Oh, I _know_ it scared him.’ Neal stared off at Henry. ‘What you were saying before… for me it’s just really weird seeing him again. Even if he wasn’t… if he had his memory. Particularly without the – ‘ Neal waved a hand over his face to indicate Rumple’s skin ‘ – and when he was with that limp and everything.’

‘His limp… that’s not recent?’ Belle felt a wave of relief. Ever since she’d seen him with it, there’d been this little worry that he’d been hurt after Regina had captured her, hurt by something that could injure the Dark One. Something Belle might not be able to protect him against.

‘ _Recent_? No. He’s had that all my life.’ Neal was frowning. ‘I thought he’d healed it when he got magic. I don’t know why it came back.’

‘Oh.’ Belle thought about that silently for a moment.

Neal was now staring off into the distance. ‘He used to have this staff, about this high – ‘ Neal held up his hand to indicate ‘ – he used to put marks on it, for how much I’d grown.’

‘I… I _saw_ that.’ Belle could remember the staff. It had stood in the same room as Rumple’s spinning wheel. ‘He had it in his castle.’

‘His castle,’ Neal repeated. ‘I read Henry’s book and everything, but that… Huh. His castle.’

Belle couldn’t say she’d ever questioned the castle. Rumplestiltskin was the Dark One; he lived in the Dark Castle, with its wide empty halls and nailed shut curtains.

‘I take it you and Rumple _didn’t_ live in a castle, then?’

Neal shook his head. ‘Hell no.’ He looked over at her again, with a faint smile. ‘I thought you said it wasn’t fair to him to go around asking questions behind his back?’

Blushing Belle dropped her eyes. ‘It isn’t. I was just…’

‘Curious,’ Neal finished. ‘Really, really curious. I bet you drove dad nuts.’

‘I dropped his tea cup and pulled down his curtains,’ Belle said, without thinking.

Neal laughed. ‘You pulled down his curtains?’

‘I didn’t _mean_ to.’ Belle hadn’t meant to share the story, but it was nice to have someone actually listening when she spoke about Rumple. The only other person who’d done that was Regina, and Belle was not ready to be friendly with her. ‘I was just trying to let some light in, but I was tugging on them and I didn’t realise they were nailed shut.’

‘ _Nailed_ shut?’ Neal asked. ‘Why?’

‘I don’t know,’ Belle said. ‘I asked him if they were nailed shut and I was mostly joking, but he said yes and I didn’t know if _he_ was joking and then, well, they were. And then they came off, and I fell off the ladder, and he caught me.’

She’d never forget that. The falling itself had happened so quickly she’d barely even had the chance to be surprised, let alone scared, and then she’d been in Rumple’s arms and he’d been bathed in the bright light now coming through the window and for a second Belle wasn’t even sure he’d known he was holding her. At the same time it had just been sinking in that he’d saved her life.

Neal raised his eyebrows. ‘He _caught_ you and then didn’t kill you for pulling down his curtains?’

Belle shook her head. ‘He didn’t even want the curtains shut again. He said he’d get used to it.’

And he’d said it with that wonderfully bewildered expression in those wide inhuman eyes and then he’d gone back to spinning.

Neal was frowning a little, now, looking back towards Henry.

‘He did change a bit, didn’t he?’ Neal took a deep breath. ‘Well, couple of hundred years; not sure what I was expecting.’

Belle almost asked him _again_ to give Rumple another chance, but she managed to stop herself. The more Neal spoke the more she realised how much she _didn’t_ know about the two of them. Maybe he’d give Rumple a chance, but she knew she couldn’t directly convince him to; only Rumple could do that.

_____________________________

 

She left it to the next day before approaching Mr Gold.

‘Mr Gold,’ said Belle, steeling herself. ‘We need to talk.’

Sitting hunched over his coffee, Mr Gold glanced up only briefly. ‘Lacey, if this is yet another bomb shell of information perhaps it can wait until I’ve finished my coffee.’

‘Uh…’ Belle decided that it definitely counted as another bomb shell of information. ‘Okay, I’ll go make myself some tea then… and my name is Belle.’

‘Belle. Yes, of course.’ Mr Gold looked like he was contemplating the meaning of life in his coffee. Maybe he was. He’d been oddly subdued ever since she’d explained to him about the Enchanted Forest.

With only slight hesitation, Belle headed into the kitchen and made her tea, pouring it into the chipped cup. Snow didn’t want her to tell him, but Belle thought he had an undeniable right to know about the knife.

When she sat back down at the table Mr Gold was watching her warily.

‘I was, uh, I was joking about the bomb shell of information,’ he said.

Belle sighed. ‘Sorry, but I’m afraid you were right.’

He tapped his fingers against the coffee mug. ‘Yeah, I’d figured that out.’

There wasn’t much she could say to that, without launching straight into a full on explanation, and Belle wasn’t sure he’d actually given her the go ahead to start. She needed his full attention, and while she had no doubt she’d have it once she mentioned something that could kill him, she really wanted him to be ready to hear it. Or as ready as he could be.

It wasn’t fair to keep it from him, Belle had decided. She didn’t really want to keep _anything_ important from him, not after lying to him about _everything_ for months.

‘There was something you wanted to tell me?’ Mr Gold prompted and Belle tried not to tense up. It couldn’t be as bad as trying to explain about the Enchanted Forest to him, could it?

‘Yes. I told you who Cora is didn’t I?’

‘Regina’s mother. Who has magic. Yes, you did, unfortunately.’

‘Well, it turns out she’s after something specific,’ Belle said. ‘Cora is looking for a knife, one that is known as the Dark One dagger.’

Mr Gold’s eyes narrowed. ‘And I am apparently this ‘Dark One’?’

‘You are,’ Belle agreed. ‘And the knife, the dagger, it’s the one weapon that can… that can kill you.’

‘And Cora’s looking for it?’ Mr Gold asked sharply. ‘I have a number of antique daggers, but without my memory I have no way of finding the correct one. Does she know what it looks like? Why, exactly, does this Cora want to kill me? Was she working with that pirate?’

This, Belle knew, was when the conversation had the potential to get a bit tricky.

‘We don’t know that Cora wants to kill you,’ she said. ‘The knife also has the power to control the Dark One.’

Mr Gold had gone very still. ‘Control.’

‘That’s what I’ve heard,’ Belle said. ‘I don’t know _exactly_ what it means, but apparently they’d have control of you, and your magic.’

‘There is a knife out there that can control me?’ There was something in Mr Gold’s expression Belle didn’t like. ‘And I was foolish enough to tell people about it? I don’t believe that. And how… how could a knife control someone? This makes no sense.’

‘Through magic,’ Belle said patiently. ‘Mother Superior seems to think the Dark One’s power is tied to the knife… and I don’t think you did tell anyone. Apparently there’s been rumours about it for a long time.’

Mr Gold was smart (of course he was – he was Rumple), any moment the ramifications of such a weapon existing would start to register with him.

‘I can be controlled,’ Mr Gold said flatly. ‘By a knife.’

Belle winced. ‘Yes.’

Mr Gold’s eyes started to dart around the room.

‘She has a head start on me,’ he muttered under his breath. He looked back up at Belle and his gaze sharpened. ‘What does this Cora know? Where is she looking? I _must_ find this knife. I _must_ get there first.’ He got up without waiting for an answer and started pacing up and down the room, his right hand occasionally reaching out to grasp the cane that wasn’t there. ‘I would have hidden it. I would not have allowed such a thing to fall into the wrong hands.’

‘It’s safe,’ Belle said quietly.

He stopped, his back to her, and the sudden silence was as loud as a gunshot.

‘What did you say?’

‘The knife. The Dark One dagger. It’s safe.’

Mr Gold turned, slowly, the same pivot that he usually did with his cane. His coffee mug started shaking its way across the table. Belle carefully put the chipped cup right in the middle of the table and stood up.

‘You know where it is! You have it.’ His eyes narrowed, his voice was low and dangerous and controlled. ‘How do you have it?’

The shelves around her started shaking, the chair she’d just stood up from quivered, then tilted, crashing onto the floor. Belle took a step back as he coffee cup tipped off the edge and hit the floor, the shattering pieces rattling as they spread across the floor.

‘Rumple…’ Belle said.

‘That’s not my name, dear,’ Mr Gold growled and he was absolutely still. The windows began rattling in their frames. ‘Where. Is. The. Knife?’

Belle gasped as an invisible presence grabbed her, driving her backwards to punctuate each word. She gritted her teeth, fear threatening to close her throat. Rumple was in there somewhere, and Rumplestiltskin would _never_ hurt her.

‘Let go of me,’ she managed to get out.

Her feet seemed to be glued to the floor, through magic or fear, Belle honestly couldn’t tell.

‘I don’t know where you get these delusions that I’ll listen to you. Perhaps it’s because you have that knife, is _that_ why you’ve never been frightened of me? Well you’re not holding it right now and I won’t allow you to get to it.’ Mr Gold’s eyes were glittering with fury and Belle felt the invisible pressure shove her back again. ‘I don’t know what kind of fool I was before to tell you about it, but if there is a way to control me, _I_ will get it. I will not allow it to fall in to anyone else’s hands.’

‘Let go of me,’ Belle repeated, keeping her voice steady, now certain he was holding her there with magic, keeping her from running. How _dare_ he accuse her of controlling him? After she’d fought so hard to persuade everyone else to leave the dagger alone? ‘Or I won’t tell you _anything_.’

He was suddenly right in front of her. ‘You _will_ tell me.’

‘ _Release_ me,’ Belle said, right in his face. ‘I am here to _help;_ I have always been here to _help_.’

A window shattered, the _bang_ making them both jump.

Mr Gold stared at her for a moment, a muscle twitching in his face, and then the pressure released and she could move properly again.

Without wasting a second Belle marched forward, closing the last of the gap between them and jabbing her finger at him. ‘Don’t ever do that again! Don’t you _ever_ do that to me! I have been fighting for you _every_ step of the way, do you understand me? Every step. I _know_ you’re not Rumplestiltskin anymore. I know you’re not, and I think right now that the best you can do is strive to be a quarter of the man he is!’

Mr Gold stepped back from her, confusion written all over his face. He’d expected her to be scared of him. Why? Because he honestly believed she’d only been confident because of that dagger? Or because he didn’t expect her to be used to magic?

‘You’ll listen to me,’ Belle continued, stepping after him, ‘because I’m helping you. Because, god help me, I _do_ care about you. You’ll listen to me, because I’m on your side and I’m always, _always_ on Rumplestiltskin’s side. Even when he doesn’t know where that is. And right now, I know more about you than you know about yourself, do you really want to lose that kind of help?’

Her words seemed to echo around them.

‘You were still keeping secrets from me,’ he said, and there was still an edge to his voice. The furniture shuddered.

‘Mr Gold,’ Belle said. ‘I was _telling_ you secrets.’

He glared at her, the house still rattling around them, but more muted. Belle liked to think that it meant he was actually _thinking_ properly. Working his way through the problem and figuring out that she was _right_.

And then she saw it. Poised on the edge of the still shuddering table, was the chipped cup. It tipped. Began to fall.

She was too far away, but Belle lunged anyway, determined to catch that little cup. A small reminder of her that Rumple had kept all those years. She couldn’t let it break, she _couldn’t_. But she wasn’t going to be able to catch it.

Belle hit the floor on her knees, hand still outstretched, nowhere near close enough, the jolt making her lose sight of the cup’s fall. She flinched as the sound of breaking china reached her ears. _No._

The shattered remains of the little tea cup lay near one of the table legs and Belle sat back, a hollow feeling filling her chest.

The house had, finally, stopped shaking.

_Too late_ , Belle though as she reached a hand out and touched one of the larger shards. Much too late. She got up and fetched a small brush and box. She would save what was left of it, anyway.

She heard Mr Gold approaching. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I should think that’s obvious,’ Belle replied.

‘It’s just a cup.’

Belle stiffened.

There was a brief pause.

‘I could fix it for you,’ said Mr Gold.

‘It’s not yours to fix.’ Belle finished gathered up the pieces.

Mr Gold’s forehead was furrowed and she could still see suspicion in his eyes. She was done putting up with that.

‘Mr Gold,’ she said curtly, ‘please check, with magic, that there is no one else around.’

‘Why?’

Belle got up, brushing down her skirt. ‘Because I am going to tell you where that dagger is and then you are going to _leave it_ there where it is _safe_ and will stay _safe_.’ 

And then _she_ was going to leave Storybrooke.

 


	13. Chapter 13

 

Belle placed the few magic books she still wanted to translate into a bag and started thinking about the final details of her plan.

She had enough money saved up to stay in Boston for a while, but best case scenario she’d find a temporary job doing… something. Since she’d never actually been out of Storybrooke, unless you counted the disastrous few meters she’d driven with Mr Gold, Belle was starting to feel nervous about the whole thing.

Of course, she’d be travelling and seeing new things. Only it would be by herself and Belle knew she’d be worrying about Rumple the whole time. Mr Gold was smart, though; he’d had enough sense to agree that the dagger was best where it was. Assuming he hadn’t been lying…

Maybe he’d feel even better about it once she was gone and he was the _only_ person in Storybrooke who knew.

The problem was, Belle wasn’t sure how she was going to get to Boston. She had nasty feeling it was going to involve a long walk.

A long walk in the middle of the night, because otherwise one of her babysitters would notice. Although Mr Gold would probably let her go… unless he thought she was after the dagger. _That_ would not end well.

Belle could just about see Emma and Henry, sitting in the library, Emma watching Henry read. It looked like Emma was pretty much forgiven for apparently telling Henry his father had died heroically. Or something.

Would Emma let her leave? Probably. Honestly, Belle thought most people would, except maybe Regina, who Belle suspected still wanted her to bring back Rumplestiltskin. Something Belle couldn’t see herself achieving any time soon.

Of course, if she told someone and asked for their help, she could get overheard, like Hook overhearing about the dagger. Or they could talk about it among themselves and rumours would get around. Or… Snow and David might not want to lose the chance of finding the dagger themselves. After all they’d said, Belle simple couldn’t trust them.

Therefore Belle figured she’d be walking away from Storybrooke, with a packed bag, in the dead of night, until she got far enough away to call a taxi.

And she’d be doing it so she could abandon Rumple, as Mr Gold, in a town where a dangerous witch was trying to either kill or control him.

Burying her face in her hands, Belle sighed.

‘A problem, Miss French?’

Belle yelped, jumped back and then glared at Mr Gold, standing near the library door. Had he come in the door? Or just appeared there? Belle grudgingly admitted that she’d been distracted enough that he might just have walked in.

She had yet to see him using magic unless angry.

‘No,’ she said.

He shrugged and peered into the rest of the library. ‘Miss Swan, you and Henry are free to leave.’

Looking at her watch, Belle realised it _was_ time for Mr Gold to take over from Emma. Past time. She should have gone and met him in the shop. He’d been mildly annoyed at the whole babysitting idea, and Belle was certain he’d only agreed because he was worried about Cora getting the dagger.

‘Got it,’ Emma called, then Belle could hear her talking quietly to Henry and the two of them got up to leave.

‘See you later Belle!’ said Henry. ‘Hi, Mr Gold!’

Mr Gold smiled. ‘Hi Henry.’

Emma waved briefly at Belle and ushered Henry through the door.

‘I know I should have come to the shop,’ Belle said, ‘but I lost track of time.’

‘That’s… fine, Miss French.’ Mr Gold wandered off through the stacks and Belle blinked in surprise.

He was holding his cane. Not walking with it, exactly, but he had it with him, and Belle hadn’t so much as seen it since the incident with Hook.

Mr Gold wandered back around.

‘Was there something bothering _you,_ Mr Gold?’ Belle asked.

He stopped. ‘Yeah, Miss French. There was.’ He frowned, looking at the cane in his hand. ‘I’ve reached a decision and I thought you deserved to hear it, given that you have, as you said, been helping me. Occasionally in a somewhat delayed manner, but helping nevertheless.’

‘Okay…’

‘I will be leaving Storybrooke tonight,’ said Mr Gold.

Belle’s blood ran cold.

‘ _What_? No, you can’t, _I’m_ leaving Storybrooke tonight!’

They stared at each other.

‘Well,’ Mr Gold said. ‘The two are not mutually exclusive.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Belle said. ‘ _Why_?’

‘Why are _you_ leaving?’

‘No, I asked first,’ Belle said, without thinking and her mind whirled, wondering how she was supposed to wake Rumple if Mr Gold left Storybrooke.

‘I am leaving, Miss French, because this town is insane.’ Mr Gold leaned on his cane. ‘And I’ve decided I want no part of it.’

Belle closed her eyes. ‘But there’s magic here.’

‘Yes. That’s rather the point.’

‘But you’re safer with magic!’

‘ _Really_? I felt perfectly safe without magic, now I find myself under attack from complete strangers and under the threat of a dagger which is apparently capable of controlling me. Or killing me, but frankly I’m used to the idea of a knife been deadly, and less used to the idea that there are people against whom my gun is useless. You’ll forgive me if that feels less than safe.’

Belle struggled to make sense of what she was hearing. ‘But you _brought_ magic here!’

‘And yet it seems to be doing me the most harm. There’s irony in there, I’m sure.’ Mr Gold shrugged. ‘Of course, it brings me back to my original point. This town has gone mad, or has always been mad, according to that book. I will leave it to be mad, far, far away from me. Now, why were _you_ leaving?’

‘I’m a target because I know where the dagger is,’ Belle said simply. ‘If I leave, you’ll be safe, and you can stay here.’

‘Could and still won’t.’

‘If you leave, you might never get your memories back,’ said Belle.

‘Of Rumplestiltskin the Dark One? I think I can live with that.’

Belle stared at him. She couldn’t let him leave. She couldn’t stop him either.

Regina had mentioned once that she’d managed to bring _some_ magic through into the Land Without Magic even during the curse, before Rumple had brought magic completely. It wasn’t impossible that Belle would be able to bring a cure out to Mr Gold.

_If_ she knew where he was.

‘Okay,’ Belle said. ‘Well, may I go with you then? I was going to walk out of Storybrooke, and call a taxi later.’

Mr Gold regarded her with a flat expression. ‘I will take you as far as Boston.’

‘What?’ Belle asked. ‘But… where are you going?’

‘As far away as I can get, Miss French,’ said Mr Gold and he seemed serious.

Belle bit her lip. If he did that she’d… she’d… probably still be able to find him because Belle was willing to bet that if Rumple’s blood could be used to find Neal, then Neal’s blood could be used to find Rumple. She would just need to keep the globe safe.

And Mr Gold was tense, anyway. If she told him she didn’t want him to leave… he could stop her doing anything about it, and he would. Probably he would use magic to confine her until he’d left and then… then she’d lose any chance at all of persuading him that she _should_ go with him. Which was the best plan, in case the globe _didn’t_ work.

‘Okay,’ Belle said, the agreement tasting like betrayal as it left her lips. ‘Okay, I would like a lift as far as Boston.’

Mr Gold nodded, and relaxed fractionally. ‘Boston it is, Miss French.’

____________________________

 

The Cadillac was loaded up, all the cases (mostly Mr Gold’s) were packed up neatly and Belle was seriously considering sabotaging the engine. Except she didn’t have the slightest clue what to do with the engine. Maybe hiding the car keys would be a better plan. Something told her the Cadillac wouldn’t be quite as easy to hot wire as Mary Margaret’s old car.

Then Mr Gold climbed into the driver’s seat, tugging his cane alongside the seat, and the opportunity was gone.

_This is to protect him_ , Belle reminded herself. Even if it didn’t feel like that anymore. It would be protecting Rumple _if_ only she was going. Belle couldn’t shake the feeling that once Mr Gold left her in Boston, she might never see him again.

Of all the things of Rumple that Belle would have expected Mr Gold to hang on to… _why_ not his love of magic? _Why_?

There had been no way to make him stay, aside from the one way of _truly_ making him stay and Belle knew it wasn’t worth it. Even if this was the hardest temptation to ignore. That dagger would keep Mr Gold in Storybrooke, would keep Rumple where she had a hope of finding him again.

She’d left it hidden anyway.

Letting Mr Gold leave _couldn’t_ be as much of a betrayal to Rumple as using the dagger. Particularly not when it was so important it stayed hidden.

‘Are you _sure_ about this?’ Belle blurted out.

‘We’ve had this conversation, Miss French,’ Mr Gold said. ‘But let me be blunt; I do not like magic. I _prefer_ , in case you hadn’t noticed, to be in control here. Now? I am in control of nothing, the town or this magic. You will _not_ persuade me to stay, Miss French, because there is absolutely no appeal to this town any longer.’

‘But,’ Belle said. ‘It’s just that… your memories… Your son’s in Storybrooke!’

‘As far as I’m concerned, I don’t _have_ a son, and he’s certainly made it clear that that’s fine by him.’

‘But he’s your _son_.’

It seemed impossible that, after everything he’d told her, Rumple would voluntarily drive _away_ from Baelfire. Even when he didn’t remember, surely there’d be _something_ at the back of his mind, telling him to stay. Even if the curse _was_ supposed to take away happy endings, surely that didn’t apply as much to Rumple, who’d written the curse _for_ his happy ending.

‘I refuse to believe that. I refuse to believe that I could be so poor a father to have my own son look at me the way Mr Cassidy does.’

Belle was left floundering for a moment. He didn’t believe her about Neal and for the most _Rumplestiltskin_ of reasons. She just about managed to rally her argument again.

‘He _is_ your son! And if you don’t stay you’ll _never_ be able to fix things with him.’

Mr Gold ignored her and started the engine.

She hadn’t tried everything, Belle decided suddenly. She hadn’t tried everything to wake Rumple and she could _not_ let Mr Gold leave unless she had. There was no time to stop and think about it, no time left for excuses, Belle leaned across the car and kissed Mr Gold.

His lips were soft and he smelled of Rumple and he wasn’t pulling away, so Belle reached up and put a hand on his neck and _then_ was pushed firmly, but not roughly, away.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Mr Gold, with careful politeness.

‘True Love’s kiss,’ Belle admitted, her voice barely a whisper as she blinked rapidly, refusing to look at him.

Mr Gold sucked in a sharp breath.

‘Miss French… Lacey…’

‘Belle.’

‘Belle,’ Mr Gold said, and scrubbed a hand over his face. ‘Well. That explains much.’

‘You’re still leaving, aren’t you?’ Belle whispered, her vision blurring from the tears that she couldn’t hold back anymore. It hadn’t worked. She’d _known_ it wouldn’t, but she’d still had to try, hadn’t she?

‘Yes, I am.’ Mr Gold paused, and he was watching at her out the corner of his eye, like Rumple had sometimes. ‘I assume you still want to go to Boston?’

‘I want to go with you,’ Belle said, with tears stinging her eyes.

Mr Gold paused. ‘No, I don’t believe you do.’ He continued just as Belle was opening her mouth to defend herself; ‘I believe you would like to go with _a version_ of me, certainly, but not me. You have just kissed me, you’ve asked me out on several dates… but, Miss French, are you aware that you’ve never once asked for my given name?’

‘I – ‘ Belle stopped, horrified. He was right.

‘Boston, Miss French?’

‘Yes,’ Belle managed to say. It was too late to ask now, and they both knew it.

He was right in every way. She’d been so busy trying to recover Rumplestiltskin, that she hadn’t honestly tried to get to know Mr Gold.

And maybe Boston wasn’t necessary if Mr Gold was leaving, but there was still the chance that Cora would use Belle to get the dagger, even with him absent. And Belle couldn’t ask Rumple to return to Storybrooke only to be controlled.

They drove off in silence, heading for the town line.

Belle couldn’t find a single thing to say. It _wasn’t_ Mr Gold she wanted to be with, but she’d tried spells, the well water, Emma driving back into town, and True Love’s kiss, and _nothing_ had worked. Was it even possible to bring back someone’s memories after they’d crossed the town line? For the first time, Belle found herself really doubting it.

What if she never got Rumple back? What if she was stuck with Mr Gold, a man wearing Rumple’s face, who’d inherited parts of Rumple’s personality, but who’d been created by a curse that ensured that he _was not_ Rumple? What if Mr Gold would _always_ be there, and now wouldn’t have anything to do with her because he knew it wasn’t him she was interested in?

What if Neal couldn’t, or wouldn’t, use the globe and she never saw him again?

A little sob escaped her and she saw Mr Gold stiffen slightly.

He had a soft spot for her, Belle knew that from the way he treated everyone else, but he didn’t love her. Now he probably never would.

And he was driving away from his son.

In a billow of smoke someone appeared in the road in front of them, right in the path of Mr Gold’s speeding car.

Belle’s instinct would have been to brake. Mr Gold stamped on the accelerator.

Panic gripped Belle.

‘ _We’re going to hit them_!’

‘Good!’ snarled Mr Gold and Belle realised she didn’t recognise the woman in the road, which meant it had to be…

Calm, as if she wasn’t in the path of a charging Cadillac, Cora lifted her hand.

‘ _Watch out!_ ’ Belle screamed, praying he’d know she was talking about magic and not hitting Cora. She found she wouldn’t mind so much if they _did_ hit Cora; the woman who was threatening her Rumple.

‘What do you expect me to _do_?’ Mr Gold snapped back and then the car flipped, rising into the air as it did so.

Belle’s heart jumped into her mouth and she gripped the door handle, hanging on until her knuckles were white, the seatbelt digging into her. She was going to die. She was going to – she was _not_ going to die! Not like that! And _certainly not_ with Rumplestiltskin sitting right next to her.

‘Do _something!_ ’

Almost at the same time she was speaking, the car seemed to freeze in the air, mostly upright, and Belle could see the magic running along it. She closed her eyes, determined not to look out the window.

‘Please tell me you’re doing that.’

‘I certainly hope so.’

The words sounded forced out and Belle risked opening her eyes, to see Mr Gold gripping the wheel like he was about to wrench it free of the car. His jaw was clenched and he was staring at… Cora, approaching the car on foot.

‘Can you put us _down_?’ Belle asked, wondering what her chances were of surviving simply opening the door and leaping out.

‘What do you think,’ said Mr Gold through gritted teeth, ‘I am _trying_ to do? I think _she’s_ doing something.’

‘But you’re more powerful!’

Rumplestiltskin _was_ the most powerful sorcerer in all the realms. Everyone had _always_ said that. He was the Dark One!

‘That _may_ be so, but it seems raw power is no substitute for knowledge.’

‘What?’ Belle _knew_ Rumple had more skill than anyone else, _surely_ some of that had transferred to Mr Gold.

‘ _I have no idea what I’m doing!_ ’ Mr Gold snapped, dissolving that theory and Cora was nearly beneath the car.

‘Okay,’ Belle said. ‘Okay. Um.’

Mr Gold’s door flew off with tremendous force and the car hit the floor in a haphazard half-controlled manner, bouncing on the suspension.

Belle forced herself to take deep breaths, while Mr Gold snarled something under his breath, and stepped out of the Cadillac.

‘ _Wait_!’ Belle shouted, even though it wasn’t like they could _stay_ in the car. She pushed her own door open and quickly followed him.

‘Going somewhere?’ Cora asked, smiling, then had to duck as Mr Gold’s car door arced back through the air and sliced towards her.

‘You are in my way, dear!’ shouted Mr Gold and the very air seemed to tremble.

‘Mr Gold,’ Belle said, pitching her voice so she hoped Cora couldn’t hear. ‘We should go back, _don’t_ start a fight with her.’

He didn’t give any sign that he’d heard and the look on his face... Dodging back down behind the car Belle dragged her phone out and slammed in Emma’s number.

‘Oh, but I couldn’t possibly let you leave.’ Cora sounded far too sure of herself for someone who’d nearly had her head taken off by a flying car door.

Beside Belle, the Cadillac groaned as if under great pressure. Belle bit her lip, leaned against it, and listened to Emma’s phone ringing.

‘Get _out_ of my way,’ snapped Mr Gold and the trees surrounding the road started to sway in the still night, ‘or I will make you regret it.’

‘There’s no need for this,’ said Cora, and Belle was pretty sure it wasn’t just her imagination that Cora was trying to be seductive. ‘There really isn’t. Just turn around, head back into town and I’ll let you be.’

Whatever effect she was trying on Rumple, it wasn’t working with Mr Gold. Her last word ended on a slight choking noise and then something slammed into the car. _Hard_.

Belle flinched, hunkering down. Not daring to look. There was a _whoosh of_ hot air as the trees began bursting into flame.

‘No no no no,’ Belle whispered. They were supposed to leave nice and quietly. No fuss. A wind was starting to pick up, swirling flame and smoke round and round. Mr Gold had already admitted he had no idea how to handle magic properly, _why_ couldn’t they just have turned around and done as Cora had asked?

Belle gritted her teeth. They couldn’t have just turned around because Mr Gold had an awful temper and far worse control than Rumple. It would have been nice if he’d taken a moment to consider that while _he_ was a close to immortal sorcerer, _she_ wasn’t. Rumple would have thought about it. Rumple would have kept her out of the way of Cora’s wrath.

Rumplestiltskin would not have been leaving Storybrooke with Baelfire still there.

‘ _Hello_?’ said Emma’s voice.

‘Emma!’ Belle said. ‘Me and Mr Gold are near the town line and-‘

‘ _The town line?_ ’ Emma interrupted. ‘ _Belle, it’s nearly midnight._ ’

‘Emma,’ Belle said, flinching as the wind began to howl. ‘Emma, Cora’s here.’

A sound drowned out anything else. A sound like the whole world was splitting apart, a rumble that grew and grew in intensity until a _crack_ burst through the air. Belle screamed as the floor shifted underneath her.

It took a few moments for her to realise the phone had fallen out of her hand and Belle had to try three times to pick it up her hands were shaking so hard. She would _not_ look around the car. She would _not_.

‘ _Belle!’_ Emma shouted. ‘ _Belle?! What the hell was that? Belle are you still there? Shit! Belle!’_

‘Still here,’ Belle tried to say, but her voice was barely a croak. She tried again. ‘I’m still here, but Mr Gold is fighting with Cora, and I don’t know what’s happening!’

The smoke was thickening now so that Belle wasn’t sure she’d be able to see even if she dared to look. The wind howled, making Emma’s replies hard to hear.

‘ _He’s fighting her? Get out of there, Belle. I’ll get Regina and I’ll…’_ Emma’s trailed off and Belle thought that she could hear her talking to someone in the background. It was hard to tell. ‘ _We’ll come help you, Belle. Hang on.’_

The line went dead and Belle let her head fall back against the car. Had she done the right thing, or would Emma and Regina’s arrival just make things worse?

The car shuddered slightly and Belle leant forward, just in time. It hurled up into the air and, no longer sheltered, Belle was hit by the full force of the wind, and a view of the scene. A massive crack had opened up in the road, its jagged edges standing out despite the wind and smoke.

A figure stepped out of the wind and smoke, but it wasn’t Mr Gold.

Cora had looked neat and well-dressed when she’d appeared in the road, but not any longer. Her hair was askew, her face covered in soot and dust and possibly blood.

‘ _There_ you are,’ Cora said. ‘I almost thought you’d done the smart thing and run away.’

Belle struggled to her feet, frantically looking around for Mr Gold, but there was too much smoke and dust, and the wind and heat from the still burning trees made it hard to keep her eyes open. Turning, Belle started to run.

And coloured smoke enveloped her.

Suddenly the air was clear and Belle blinked, trying to focus as the smoke and fire was replaced by bright street lamps. She was… on the main street. Outside the pawnshop. For a moment the noise had stopped, everything seemed still…

Then there was an almighty crash from behind her.

Belle whirled around, and there was Mr Gold’s car, the driver’s side turned towards her, windows smashed, front door missing and a huge dent buckling the back door. The last of the red smoke around it drifted off into the air.

Belle tried move forward, but her legs felt like jelly so she sat down on the curb with a thump, trying to make herself start thinking again.

Red smoke whirled off to her left and Mr Gold was there, staggering a few steps.

He looked worse than Cora. There was a gash curving down the side of his face, and the blood had run down his neck, mixing with soot and running down across his shirt. The shirt itself was ripped up one sleeve, the suit jacket missing entirely, his tie loose and torn. His hair was wild; strands of it were crossing his face, sticking to the blood and dust.

He paused. Blinked around at the street, saw Belle, limped over, and sat down next to her.

They both stayed there, staring blankly out across the street.

Eventually Mr Gold cleared his throat, hesitantly. ‘I may have lost my temper.’

‘Yes,’ Belle agreed. ‘I think you might have.’

A screech of tires cut through the night and David’s truck shot towards them.

Belle watched numbly and realised they were probably on the way to the town line. She’d called Emma, after all. Sure enough, the yellow bug followed closely behind the truck and both cars pulled to a stop near the battered Cadillac.

‘Belle! Mr Gold!’ Emma said as she ran over. ‘Are you guys alright? I thought you said you were at the town line?’

‘We were,’ Belle said.

‘With my mother,’ Regina added, staring at Mr Gold.

‘Oh yes,’ he said, ‘she was definitely there.’

‘And you thought it was a good idea to start a fight with her?’ Snow asked, folding her arms.

Belle supposed the two of them looked quite a sight, sitting on the curb covered in soot, next to Mr Gold’s completely wrecked car. She couldn’t bring herself to care.

Mr Gold looked up. ‘She started it.’

Since Belle wasn’t _entirely_ sure that was accurate, she just looked at him.

David was staring off in the direction of the town line. ‘Is something on fire?’

‘Yes,’ said Belle. ‘I think so.’ She glanced at Mr Gold. ‘Unless you put it out?’

‘Do I look like I had time to put it out?’ Mr Gold snapped, but it was missing the usual venom.

David took a step back. ‘Okay, is Cora still there? Because I need to get the fire crew out there.’

Mr Gold just shrugged, but David backed off anyway, lifting his phone to his ear, with his eyes fixed on the horizon, where Belle could now see the smoke. To her, that just sounded like an excuse for David to get away from Mr Gold.

‘What were you even _doing_ out there?’ asked Regina. ‘What was this? Planning a fight at midnight? How very dramatic of you.’

Belle could see the thought process there. _Rumple_ had been for those kinds of dramatics, back in their world.

‘We weren’t… uh, we weren’t _planning_ a fight,’ Belle said.

Mr Gold climbed to his feet, making a futile attempt to brush himself down. ‘If you must know, we were trying to leave. Unsuccessfully.’

‘Leave?’ Emma asked. ‘What, Storybrooke?’

‘ _Yes_ , Miss Swan. Storybrooke.’ Mr Gold briefly eyed his car, then turned away. ‘I have had _enough_ of this place.’

The shop door slammed behind him.

‘Belle?’ Emma asked. 

It was tempting to follow Mr Gold. _Really_ tempting. Except she’d called Emma, and Emma had jumped up in the middle of the night, gathered Snow, David and Regina, and come. Still sitting on the curb, Belle began to explain.

 


	14. Chapter 14

 

Belle stirred her iced tea absently and looked up as Neal slid into the chair across from her. Regina was _supposed_ to be watching her, but since Cora had apparently arranged a meeting with her daughter, Regina had gone and it seemed safe enough for Belle to be on her own.

‘Hey,’ said Neal.

‘Hi,’ Belle said.

‘So, uh, Mr Gold tried to leave,’ Neal continued.

‘So did I,’ Belle pointed out. Mr Gold still _wanted_ to leave, but thankfully he hadn’t had another attempt. Belle had a feeling Cora would know if he tried. She had a feeling Cora would also know if _she_ tried.

‘Yeah, but Emma said you were just trying to make sure Cora never finds out where that damned dagger is,’ Neal said. ‘Why would he leave?’

Belle took a sip of iced tea. ‘He thinks Storybrooke is crazy.’

Neal laughed. ‘It kinda is.’

‘And,’ Belle continued, ‘he’s not comfortable with magic.’

Neal stopped laughing. ‘He what?’

‘He doesn’t like magic,’ Belle repeated, chasing the ice around her drink with the straw.

‘Okay…’ Neal frowned. ‘Uh, so is he still trying to leave?’

‘He still _wants_ to leave,’ Belle said. ‘But with Cora guarding the town line I think he’s stuck here.’

Neal studied her. ‘Any luck waking my dad up?’

Belle pressed her lips together and shook her head. At least Mr Gold hadn’t reacted too badly when she’d kissed him. He hadn’t brought it up again either, but that wasn’t really surprising given everything else that had happened. They’d reached a sort of truce, one that recognised that although Belle was helping him, she wasn’t really helping _him_ , and one that also recognised he wasn’t to use his magic against her again.

Belle didn’t like it. She wanted to ask him his name.

Behind her, Belle heard the diner door swing open.

‘And _then_ ,’ Emma was saying, ‘I had to fight a dragon.’

‘A _dragon_ , Miss Swan?’

Belle looked up sharply, caught the look on Neal’s face, and turned around to see Mr Gold and Emma settling themselves down at the counter and ordering drinks.

‘Oh hell no,’ said Neal. ‘That’s not happening.’

Belle reached over and put a hand on his arm when he went to stand. ‘Is Emma going to like it if you tell her not to go near him?’

Neal pulled a face, not taking his eyes from the unlikely duo. ‘No… but. No.’

‘And, I can tell you right now, Mr Gold won’t listen,’ Belle said.

‘I don’t like it,’ Neal muttered.

‘Finding out I was the daughter of Snow White and Prince charming was a little difficult to accept, you know?’ Emma continued.

‘Oh ho,’ Mr Gold said, with a soft laugh. ‘Doesn’t that now make you a princess? The Swan Princess.’

Belle could see Emma’s wince from across the room.

‘ _Don’t_ call me that.’

Mr Gold had his back to Belle, but she could still see his little head tilt.

‘Emma Swan,’ he said. ‘The Swan Princess.’

Emma leaned forward against the counter, taking a drink. ‘Yeah? Well; _Rumplestiltskin_.’

‘Fair point.’ Mr Gold pointed a finger at her. ‘Although, that’s evil sorcerer Rumplestiltskin to you, Swan Princess.’

‘Evil sorcerer Rumplestiltskin _the Dark One_ ,’ Emma returned.

Neal buried his head in his hands. ‘Please tell me this isn’t happening.’

‘The Swan Princess,’ said Mr Gold, ‘Daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. The _Saviour_.’

‘Hey!’ Emma complained. ‘Who told you that one?’

Mr Gold tapped his nose. ‘I have my sources, _your highness_.’

_Me,_ thought Belle, watching the two of them with a heavy heart.

‘Do you really want to get into this?’ Emma asked. ‘Because I heard someone calling you the ‘crocodile’ and I really think I could dig up a few more.’

‘The _crocodile_? Oh dear.’ Mr Gold let out a soft laugh. ‘Well I was going for dragon slayer next but I do know when I’m beaten… Miss Swan.’

Belle turned her attention back to Neal, who was looking incredibly uncomfortable.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked.

‘Hmm?’ Neal looked away from Emma. ‘I just wish they wouldn’t…’

‘Talk?’ asked Belle.

‘Yeah.’ Neal rubbed the back of his neck again. ‘Or be in the same room or town or continent.’

The sound of Mr Gold and Emma laughing together drifted over to them.

‘He’s not going to hurt her,’ Belle said, even though part of her was starting to agree with Neal. She didn’t like Mr Gold laughing about being Rumple. It felt… weird. It was good that he was actually talking to someone else though, someone he could relate to. After their conversation heading out to the town line, Belle knew she couldn’t be that person. Not with Mr Gold.

‘I tried to run away from Storybrooke once, you know,’ Emma said.

‘Really?’

‘Oh yeah. There were _way_ too many things pointing towards the whole fairy tale thing, so I decided to take Henry and just bail.’

‘And what stopped you,’ asked Mr Gold, ‘in your kidnapping attempt?’

Belle could see Emma giving him a look.

‘Henry. Kid decided he wasn’t going anywhere and grabbed the wheel.’

‘And here was I thinking it would be Regina stopping you. She mustn’t have got word in time.’

‘No, she didn’t,’ Emma said, sighing. ‘And this place has only got weirder since.’

‘So why are you still here, Miss Swan? I hear you can leave without fear of memory loss.’

‘Yeah,’ Emma said, ‘but my family’s here now. No matter how crazy it gets, I don’t want to leave them. Sometimes though… I could still do with a break.’

‘I’m not convinced such a thing is possible in Storybrooke,’ said Mr Gold and Emma lifted her glass.

‘You got that right.’

‘Hey. Belle.’ Neal was looking at her.

Belle forced herself to look away from Mr Gold.

‘You sure you’re okay living with him?’

The question was like a bucket of ice water. _How_ many times did she have to answer that question? _How many_?

‘Neal, I _love_ –‘

‘No, I don’t mean it like that,’ Neal said, quickly. ‘You love my father. I see that. So you love dad, are you sure you’re okay living with Mr Gold?’

‘Oh.’ Belle stared into her iced tea. ‘Um. I guess. It’s… there’s some of Rumple in him and that’s… nice.’

‘Doesn’t sound great to me,’ Neal observed.

‘It isn’t,’ Belle admitted, speaking quietly so that Mr Gold couldn’t hear her. ‘I miss him, and I can’t think of anything else to try to get him back and now I have a deadline because as soon as Cora’s gone…’

‘He’ll leave,’ said Neal, and frowned.

‘Yes,’ Belle said, ‘but as long as Cora’s here, she’s searching for the dagger and that’s even worse.’

She glanced back over at Mr Gold and Emma, now drinking silently together and wondered how much longer they could keep on, just waiting for Cora to make her move. Belle didn’t think it would last, and she thought they should make the first move, because she had a horrible feeling that if they did wait for Cora, the first she’d know about it was Cora kidnapping her and demanding to know where the dagger was.

Belle needed to speak to Emma, because she couldn’t wait for that to happen. 

____________________________

 

‘We’re fairly sure Cora won’t act until she knows whether Regina’s working with her,’ Snow said. ‘So why move now?’

The seven of them; Belle, Mr Gold, Neal, Regina, Emma, Snow and David were all in Snow’s apartment. Mr Gold was standing a way off, not really contributing, but watching them all carefully. Belle wondered how closely he’d read Henry’s book. Did he know about the cage?

‘Because I can’t keep this up much longer,’ Regina snapped. ‘It’s not my idea of fun, listening to her tell me how much better off I’d be with you all dead. Doesn’t she realise I’ve spent years trying that?’

A chilly silence descended, one that was broken by a strange little cough from Mr Gold’s direction. When Belle looked over at him, he was clearly trying to hide a smile.

‘I think,’ Belle said, ‘that she might realise what’s going on. And then she might move before we’re ready.’

Regina had got _some_ information from her mother, but nothing really useful because the simple fact was if Cora chose to come for Belle, there wasn’t a lot they could do about it. Really, all they knew from Regina was that Cora had freed Hook, _knowing_ he’d attack Mr Gold. Cora had wanted to be certain that Mr Gold had Rumplestiltskin’s powers _before_ she went for the dagger.

‘How can we _be_ ready?’ Emma asked and, echoing Belle’s thoughts, added: ‘None of us are a match for her!’

‘Mr Gold might be,’ David put in.

‘Yes, because that went so very well last time,’ muttered Mr Gold.

‘We’re not ready,’ Regina said. ‘We’re never going to be ready. But do we really want to hang around until my mother inevitably gets her hands on that dagger?’

‘Nope,’ Neal said, and he was clearly keeping his distance from Mr Gold. ‘Let’s not do that.’

Belle chewed her lip. ‘We can’t take her on in a flat out fight, so we’ve got to find another way of beating her. What if we could lure her over the town line? Her magic would be useless and then we could...’

‘We could _what_?’ Regina asked. ‘Kill my mother? Because it’s not like we’d have anywhere to keep her out there and I really don’t think we could stop her from just coming back.’

‘We’re not going to kill her,’ Snow said firmly. ‘But I like Belle’s idea. If we can keep her over the town line, she’s not a threat to anyone. Regina, is there a way to put a protection spell over the whole town?’

‘Probably,’ Regina said, ‘but _I_ couldn’t do it.’

Belle watched as her, Snow and David turned and…

‘I don’t know what you’re looking at me for,’ said Mr Gold.

‘You cast a protection spell on your shop,’ Emma pointed out.

‘I did? Oh good.’

‘Her biggest advantage is her magic,’ Neal said. ‘I seriously doubt we’d get her out there anyway. If she’s smart, nothing’s going to lure her somewhere where she knows she’d be most likely to lose.’

Belle very carefully avoided looking at Mr Gold. _Nothing_ would lure her out there? Well…

‘She’s smart,’ said Regina.

‘Then we’ll find a different plan,’ said Mr Gold, in a tone that Belle knew was meant specially for her.

That was fine. It was his decision to make. Well, time to try something _else_ that might annoy him.

‘Could the Blue Fairy design some way to hold her?’ Belle asked. ‘Like she did with Rumple?’

Mr Gold’s expression darkened.

‘Yes,’ Snow said. ‘We’ve been speaking to her about that and she thinks she can, but we’d never lure Cora into it because the Mother Superior thinks she’d sense the magic before she even came close.’

‘Then we gotta knock her out elsewhere and put her there, right?’ Neal asked.

Emma looked between Neal and Regina. ‘Can we do that?’

‘Well, _I_ couldn’t,’ Regina said. ‘I’m not powerful enough to cast an effective sleeping spell on my mother.’ She turned to Mr Gold. ‘You could.’

‘I am _not_ attempting to face her head on again,’ Mr Gold said. ‘Just in case I wasn’t clear enough the first time.’

‘So we lure her somewhere,’ Snow said, ‘when she doesn’t know you’re there. Could you do it then?’

‘Miss Blanchard,’ said Mr Gold, ‘you have been unable to find this woman for weeks and now you think you could successfully lure her somewhere. How?’

‘He has a point,’ Neal said, and shrugged when Emma raised her eyebrows at him.

‘We can do it easily,’ Belle said. ‘Because we know what she wants.’

Emma frowned at her, clearly realising what Belle meant. ‘You sure about this?’

Belle shrugged, not feeling at all sure about it. ‘We _know_ she’ll come after me, so I’m the perfect bait.’

‘This all sounds very noble,’ Regina said. ‘Except that we have no idea when my mother’s going to move against Belle. She’s known Belle knows where that dagger is for a while now.’

‘I thought about that,’ Belle said. ‘And I think she’ll make a move as soon as you make it clear you’re not working with her.’

It made sense. Cora now knew who could tell her where to find the dagger, _and_ she knew that Mr Gold had Rumple’s magic. Regina seemed to be the only thing she was waiting on, Belle just wasn’t sure if that was because Cora genuinely wanted her daughter on her side, or just wanted an accurate count of who her enemies were.

‘Well.’ Regina shifted uncomfortably. ‘She might. Or she might just kidnap Henry or something.’

‘She’d go after _Henry_?’ Emma asked, taking a step towards the door. ‘We left him with Ruby!’

‘Relax. I said she _might_ and she’d do it to hurt me, if she thought I wasn’t going to help her.’ Regina leaned against the back of a chair. ‘So if I tell her where to put her kind offers of killing all of you, then I’m not participating in any _plan_. I’m protecting Henry.’

‘Regina,’ Snow said, ‘if we’re sending your mother after Belle, we need you there. You’re the _only_ one here with any experience with magic.’

‘I don’t care. I won’t let her hurt Henry.’

‘I’m with Regina on this,’ Emma said. ‘If there’s any chance of Cora heading after Henry, then I want Regina with him _because_ she’s the only one with any experience with magic.’

Mr Gold stepped forward. ‘And why don’t the nuns help? If they know so much about magic?’

_Good question,_ Belle thought. She never did understand the fairies rules for when they did and did not help. Maybe you had to be a fairy for it to make sense.

‘The fairies don’t like to interfere directly,’ David said. ‘And it’s complicated now. When Mary Margaret and I were talking to Mother Superior the other day, she said they _still_ don’t have much fairy dust from the mines. I’m afraid a cell to keep her in is the best they can do.’

‘What about you?’ Snow asked. ‘Do you think you could put her under a sleeping spell?’

‘And without taking out half the town,’ Neal added.

Mr Gold smiled slightly. ‘I suppose we’ll just have to try it and see.’

____________________________

 

‘Belle,’ Emma said. ‘You’ve just given me an empty jar.’

Turning back from the shelf Belle found Emma holding up the jar with a bemused expression on her face. Belle smiled.

‘It’s invisible chalk.’

‘Is that a joke?’ Emma squinted into the jar like she expected to be able to see the invisible chalk. As the raised the jar, the chalk slid across the bottom. ‘Oh.’

‘It should help you cast a protection spell,’ Belle said. ‘If you draw a line across the floor.’

‘I thought the point was we were acting like we weren’t expecting Cora?’ asked Neal, and he was eyeing Emma and the chalk with an odd expression.

‘She’ll still expect a fight when she gets here,’ Snow called from across the shop, where she was checking on her bow and arrows. ‘We need to do something or she’ll get suspicious.’

‘That’s why when we see her coming,’ Belle said. ‘You can draw a line in front of the curtain to the back of the shop, and, uh, we’ll let her see I’m back there.’

‘And pretend we’re defending you. Huh.’ Emma rattled the chalk sceptically. ‘What happens if we need to get past the line?’

‘It’s your protection spell,’ Belle said, trying to remember everything Rumple had told her about it, back in the Dark Castle. ‘I think you should be able to retreat past it.’

‘Will anyone else? If I want them to?’ Emma asked.

‘Um…’ Belle tried to remember. ‘I’ll not sure.’

‘Alright. Okay.’ Emma looked over at Neal. ‘ _All_ of you are going behind the protection spell.’

‘Emma, I’m not leaving you out here alone with Cora,’ said Snow. ‘The original plan was for me to stay here with you and that’s-‘

‘Not what we’re doing,’ David said.

‘David,’ Snow said in an undertone, her eyes flicking to Emma.

‘I’ll stay out her with Emma, you go behind the protection spell.’

‘Absolutely _not_ ,’ Snow argued.

‘Miss Blanchard,’ said Mr Gold, as he walked in from the back of the shop, ‘have you forgotten that the whole point is for Miss Swan to make sure Cora _does_ get past her? If something does, in fact, go wrong, you are more likely to be able to help if you’re back here.’

‘He’s right,’ Emma said with a shrug.

‘Fine,’ Snow said, positioning herself so she could see anyone approaching the pawnshop, ‘but _don’t_ hang on too long before backing out. Either of you.’

‘Mary Margaret,’ Emma said, with a slight eye roll, ‘we’ve been through this.’

‘It’ll be fine,’ David added, putting a hand on his wife’s arm.

Belle watched Neal as he wandered around the shop, looking for something. Then he ducked behind the counter and came up holding a sword. Swinging it experimentally, Neal wandered back towards them.

He half glanced at Mr Gold. ‘Shouldn’t you get back there? In case someone sees you?’

Mr Gold eyed him for a moment. ‘Yes, Mr Cassidy, and I will.’

Neal grimaced very slightly at the ‘Mr Cassidy’, and watched as Mr Gold disappeared back behind the curtain.

The (magically fixed) Cadillac was parked outside Mr Gold’s house and he’d cast a protection spell around the house, before transporting himself to the shop. Hopefully, that would be enough to convince Cora he was at home, and _not_ involved with the little meeting in the shop. Regina had dropped hints that they were meeting on where to hide Belle.

Belle just hoped she’d managed to be subtle about dropping those hints, although it was possible Cora wouldn’t care even if she knew it was a trap. She had to know she could beat them.

‘Emma, do you want to get started on that protection spell?’ Snow asked. ‘So all you have to do is finish drawing the line when I see Cora?’

‘Yeah, I’m on it.’ Emma hesitantly reached into the jar and pulled a face as she picked up the invisible chalk.

She knelt down by the curtain and started trying to draw a line. Neal watched her, a bit disapprovingly, Belle thought.

‘I didn’t know you were magical.’

Emma sat back. ‘Are you getting judgey about this? ‘Cause you’re not allowed to have opinions about surprises, Mr Son of Rumplestiltskin.’

Neal half shrugged, but continued to watch Emma.

‘Missed a spot,’ he said.

Belle couldn’t help smiling.

‘You’re hilarious,’ Emma said, still scribbling with the chalk.

‘She’s here!’ Mary Margaret turned away from the window. ‘Cora’s coming.’

‘Gold, you hear that?’ Emma asked.

‘I assure you, I’m out of sight,’ came Mr Gold’s voice.

‘Great.’ Emma looked at Snow. ‘Everyone get in the back room. Except David,’ she added, when David went to argue.

‘Emma…’ Snow said, then paused. ‘Good luck.’

‘You too.’

Emma and David stood, side by side, both holding swords that were unlikely to do any good against Cora. It was hard not to wonder what would happen if Mr Gold couldn’t cast the sleeping spell.

Belle pushed through the curtain and saw Mr Gold, standing off to one side, where he couldn’t be seen from the other room, even had the curtain been open. He nodded to her.

Neal and Snow joined them, Snow with her bow at the ready, took up a position on the other side of the curtain. Belle paused, and then moved the curtain slightly open, making sure she was standing where Cora would only just be able to see her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Belle saw Neal briefly rest a hand on the spinning wheel.

‘Guys…’ Emma called, ‘shouldn’t there be a flash of light or something when a protection spell is cast?’

Belle turned to Mr Gold, who shrugged.

‘I thought there should be,’ Snow said.

‘Yeah, well, nothing happened.’ Emma poked her head through the curtain. ‘And Cora’s coming.’

‘Maybe you _did_ miss a spot,’ Neal said doubtfully.

‘I didn’t. I tried doing it again.’ Emma stared down at the floor, as if trying to see the line she’d just drawn.

‘Wait,’ Belle said, ‘I think the chalk might just aid a protection spell, maybe you still need to cast it.’

‘You couldn’t have mentioned that earlier?’

‘Rumple wasn’t specific when he was telling me about it!’

Snow swung around to Mr Gold. ‘So what does it do? You must know _something_!’

‘I don’t,’ said Mr Gold. ‘But since the idea is that she finds her way back here, this is not the worst set back we could have.’

‘Shut up!’ said Emma. ‘She’s just about to open the door!’

‘Can you… can you _try_ casting a protection spell?’ asked Belle.

‘I don’t know how!’ Emma closed her eyes anyway. ‘It’s not working!’

‘Emma…’ David said.

Never before had the bell above the pawnshop’s door sounded so ominous. Emma turned to face Cora.

‘No spells?’ Cora asked. ‘I’m disappointed. You’re all making this so easy for me.’

‘There _will_ be a spell,’ Emma said, teeth gritted, but nothing was happening.

_Mr Gold is right_ , Belle thought, _At least we_ were _already trying to look incompetent._

‘Of course there will, in the meantime, I just need to speak to Belle for a moment.’

Belle could see Cora smiling.

‘Oh no,’ Emma said, ‘you won’t.’

And there was a flash of bright light, shimmering up from the line on the floor and sliding over the back room. Even though she knew Cora would be breaking through it, Belle breathed a sigh of relief.

Cora eyed Emma with an unimpressed gaze. ‘So you must be the Saviour. Step aside.’

‘No.’ Emma stepped forward with steel in her eyes. ‘And I’m not the Saviour anymore. I _was_ the Saviour. I broke the curse. Now? Now I’m Emma Swan, the sheriff of this town, and I‘m not letting you hurt my family!’

Raising their swords, she and David both charged at Cora.

‘Emma,’ Mr Gold said very quietly, but Belle was sure Emma hadn’t heard him. Hopefully Cora hadn’t either.

Cora made no attempt to dodge either Emma or David, instead she waved her hand and they disappeared in a plume of smoke as Cora transported them away somewhere.

Emma had done her part, though, Belle thought. Cora would believe Emma had honestly been trying to stop her.

‘What? Where the hell is he?’ Neal said suddenly.

Belle stared around the small back room, realising with a sudden sinking feeling what Neal meant. There was no sign of Mr Gold.

‘He was there just a second ago.’

Was it possible he’d inadvertently cast some kind of spell for concealment? But Belle was sure he’d say something, rather than just watching their confusion. No, it seemed that Mr Gold truly wasn’t there anymore.

‘Well he’s not here now,’ Snow said, urgency in her voice as they heard Cora vow to get through the protection spell. ‘He’s abandoned us.’

‘No,’ Neal said. ‘He wouldn’t do that, he’s got magic; he’s got no reason to do that!’

‘And yet he’s not here!’ Snow had an arrow ready on her bow.

‘I don’t understand…’ Belle said, staring around the room although she knew there was nowhere to hide. ‘He _was_ here. He agreed to the plan. Why just leave? He’s putting _himself_ in danger.’

‘We can work that out later,’ Neal said, moving to the closest shelf. ‘Belle, is there _anything_ in here, anything at all, that can help us with Cora?’

Belle immediately started looking around the room, hoping something would jog her memory or _something_ that could help. There was one thing… She pointed to the shelf that Rumple had been reaching for with his gloves on. The thing that would ‘take care of’ the Evil Queen, _without_ killing her.

‘There’s that,’ she said uncertainly. ‘But Rumple handled it with gloves and I don’t actually know what it does, just that it’s dangerous.’

Neal moved over and inspected the wooden box, without making a move to touch it. ‘Yeah, no idea what that is. Maybe just leave that one?’

Belle nodded. ‘Yeah…’

‘How long was this protection spell going to last?’ Snow asked from near the curtain, where she was preparing herself to shoot as soon as Cora got through.

Not that it was likely to do any good.

‘I don’t know,’ Belle admitted.

Neal was rummaging through a shelf. ‘I have no idea what any of this stuff is.’

‘I know some of it, but I just can’t see how it will _help_!’ Belle turned around in frustration. ‘There _has_ to be something!’

The shop shook ominously under the weight of Cora’s magic.

‘Right.’ Neal approached the thing Rumple had wanted to attack Regina with, pulling on the nearby gloves. ‘Let’s check this thing out.’

Belle moved to stand beside him as Neal took something carefully out the box.

‘It’s a medallion,’ Neal said. ‘With some weird mark on it.’ He squinted at it. ‘I guess I could try and strangle her with the chain…’

‘Put it back,’ said Belle, sighing.

Putting it back where he found it, Neal removed the gloves and took up a sword again. ‘Guess we’re just going to fight her the old fashioned way.’

‘I, uh, I don’t know how to fight,’ Belle admitted, feeling useless. She was supposed to have been the bait, but without Mr Gold… He _knew_ she knew where the knife was, why would he risk her telling Cora? Maybe he’d decided they couldn’t beat her, and gone to dig it up himself, and leave while Cora was busy. Belle shivered.

Snow raised her bow. ‘Then stay behind Neal. 

The protection spell dropped.

 


	15. Chapter 15

 

The vault had a protection spell on it, but not one that was particularly difficult to break. It was a spell created by someone confident in their magical dominance of the town. A spell created by someone who assumed that he was completely and safely out of the way; him and his knowledge of what she _must_ have brought with her.

It was, in short, a spell created by Cora.

She was back from Wonderland and still craving more and more power, while claiming to want the best for Regina. Impossible, of course, given that she was unable to truly care for her daughter.

It took skill and power to break through a protection spell without alerting its owner, but that wasn’t a problem. He could have managed it with more finesse, given more time, though it didn’t _really_ matter. He entered the vault unnoticed.

This was far from an ideal situation, but she’d backed him into a corner.

And she’d come for Belle. And not just Belle, but that was a thought that he needed time and space to explore.

Deep in the vault, Cora’s things were easy to find. They stood out against Regina’s, if you knew where to look. Reaching in amongst them, he produced the small, wooden box he’d been looking for.

It took eyeing it critically for a few moments to be sure that it _was_ what he was looking for. There was no trick.

Carefully, and admittedly with some regret, he reached into the box.

‘Probably, for you, this _was_ the safest place to put it,’ he mused out loud. He looked down at his hand and reached a decision. There were many things he could do, many choices, but only one would truly see the threat gone.  ‘Regina was not a threat to you, and Emma isn’t skilled enough to break your protection spell. Powerful enough? Maybe, but untrained. As for the fairies… well, they only meddle when it suits them. So naturally you assumed it would be quite safe here.

‘It’s hard, isn’t it? Finding somewhere suitable. There are, after all,’ he continued, ‘only so many places to hide something. Even something precious; that holds this much power over you. Something that can control or kill with equal ease. Trust me; I would know.’ He paused, staring down at the glowing heart. ‘You should have left it in your chest.’

Rumplestiltskin began to close his hand.

_________________________

 

Cora stepped past the curtain and Neal swung the sword at the exact moment Snow released her arrow.

To Belle’s horror she caught the arrow, dropping it straight onto the floor, and the sword vanished in a puff of smoke. Neal backed up, searching for another weapon, while Belle took hold of a lamp. Blunt force had worked against Hook, although he hadn’t had magic. If Neal could distract Cora, then maybe Belle could still take her by surprise.

Snow tried to ready another shot, but Cora waved a hand and she flew backwards, colliding with the wall and staying pinned there.

‘Really,’ Cora said. ‘This could be solved without violence.’ She focused on Belle. ‘Tell me where the Kris Dagger is, and no one needs to be hurt.’

‘Until you get it,’ Neal said, ‘and then everyone will be hurt. So what’s the plan: controlling the power, or taking it?’

Cora eyed him with an assessing gaze. ‘I won’t need to _hurt_ anyone, too much. With that much power, I’ll simply take over this town without difficulty.’

‘Yeah, that’s why I asked the second part.’ Neal was reaching for the gloves, as subtly as possible. ‘ _You_ don’t even know what you’ll do if you take the power. Trust me on that.’

‘And who are you, to know so much?’ Cora asked, seeming curious now, but not at all concerned.

Belle wondered if she had any chances of getting past her and running. Cora wanted her, not Neal, and would eventually follow, but if she could get over the town line then she’d at least be on equal footing. Of course, she’d be leading Cora _towards_ the dagger…

‘Oh, no one told you?’ Neal said and Belle could see him slide on the gloves. ‘I’m his son.’

‘You’re Rumple’s _son_?’ Cora laughed. ‘Well, imagine that.’

‘Yeah. Imagine that,’ Neal echoed. ‘You’re going to want to think twice about taking the power.’

He lunged for the box, whipping out the medallion. Cora stared at it, pausing, and Neal stepped towards her brandishing it like he actually knew what he was doing.

Belle took the opportunity; leaving the lamp where it was, she ducked around Neal and tried to slip past Cora.

‘Enough of this,’ Cora snapped and Neal shone briefly with light before freezing in place. She whipped around to face Belle. ‘Where is the Kris Dagger?’

‘I don’t know,’ Belle said, stopped just inside the curtain. It was useless trying to run, but she would stare Cora down to her last breath.

‘Of course you do,’ Cora said. ‘So do this the easy way, and tell me.’ She went to step forward and then froze, her eyes looking unfocused. ‘ _No_.’

Belle eyed the curtain, wondering if Cora was distracted enough for her to get away. Only if she left Neal now, would Cora go after him as well, because Neal had admitted to knowing more about Rumple’s curse?

‘No,’ Cora said again. ‘It was easier this way.’

And then she gasped, one hand going to her chest. Behind her, Neal unfroze, swaying a bit as the spell broke, he looked down uncertainly at the medallion, and at the same time Snow hit the floor with a crash. She stood up again immediately, the bow rising, but Belle already knew it wouldn’t be necessary.

Cora was dropping to her knees and then finally to the floor, lying still. Too still.

Snow relaxed her bow, but didn’t put it down. ‘Is she breathing?’

Shaking her head, Belle took a faltering step forwards Cora. ‘No, I don’t think so.’

Neal replaced the medallion hurriedly and removed the gloves. ‘I think I missed something there.’ He looked at Belle. ‘Did you do that?’

‘No,’ Belle said, emphatically.

‘Didn’t think so. Who the hell was she talking to?’

‘She was talking to me.’

The voice was right by her ear and Belle nearly jumped out of her skin. She found herself leaping to the side and raising her hands protectively only to see Mr Gold. He was staring down at Cora and he looked… sad.

‘You _left_ us!’ Snow cried, anger smouldering in her eyes.

He spared her only a brief glance. ‘For a purpose, dearie.’

Then he smiled at Belle, resting a hand briefly on her arm… and walked past her.

He stopped in front of Neal.

‘I have so, so many things to apologise for… and I’m afraid I’ve only added to them.’

Belle stared, wishing she could see his face. She could see Neal’s, and his expression was a mixture of confusion and wariness.

‘What?’ Neal asked.

‘Bae… I remember,’ Rumplestiltskin said, and Belle’s breath caught in her throat. But really she’d known the _second_ he’d appeared back in the room, there was an air around Rumplestiltskin that Mr Gold had never quite matched. ‘I remember, Bae, and you were right. I know that now. You were always right. I was a coward and I _never_ should have let you go. I love you, Bae, and I’m sorry.’

Neal swallowed. ‘Yeah, and you looked for me. Belle told me. I’ve heard it all.’ He took a step back.

Rumple swayed as if he’d been hit and Belle looked at her feet, feeling like an intruder. Her True Love was back, somehow, impossibly, back. She didn’t really care how.

‘Bae, please.’

Belle looked up again and Neal was shaking his head, but he didn’t look certain.

The door to the shop slammed open and there was the sound of running feet, and Belle moved quickly away from the curtain just as Emma and David barged through, swords at the ready.

‘Stop!’ Emma shouted, ground to a halt, and saw Cora lying on the ground. ‘Okay, what the hell?’

‘Is she…?’ David asked.

‘She’s dead,’ Snow said and pointed at Rumple. ‘ _He_ killed her.’

‘Wait.’ Emma was frowning. ‘I thought we were just stopping her?’

Rumple turned around. ‘This was the only way to be certain.’

David slid his sword back into the scabbard. ‘And how would you know?’

‘Oh, I know a lot of things,’ Rumple said.

‘He remembers,’ said Snow.

‘I thought we didn’t have a cure for that?’ Emma asked, looking to Belle. ‘How the hell did all this happen? I was away for maybe ten minutes.’

‘Still waiting for an explanation ourselves,’ Neal said, still obviously shaken up by his father’s return.

Belle wished there was more she could do for the two of them, but for the moment, her Rumple was back. The relief was overpowering, and she was never, _never_ letting him near the town line again. She wanted to run over and hug him, hold him in her arms, but that would have to wait.

Rumple took a step to one side, Belle guessed to include Neal in the conversation, then he turned to Emma.

‘There is no cure – yet. However, I wanted to be sure that I would awaken when the Saviour arrived. I wanted to make sure, that when I heard her name –‘

‘You’d remember,’ Belle breathed. When Rumplestiltskin had come back to her the first time, that had been her first clue; the way he’d said _Emma_.

‘But you’ve heard my name lots of times,’ Emma complained, eyeing Rumple suspiciously.

‘Yes, I have,’ said Rumple. ‘But only once from you.’

David was kneeling down by Cora. ‘And you defeated Cora?’

Rumple glanced briefly down at her and there was something in his expression that Belle couldn’t name.

‘Cora didn’t keep her heart in her chest and I knew where to find it. So, yes, I defeated her.’ He turned to Neal. ‘There was no other choice. I’ve tried sending her away before, and yet she came back. She would have killed you all.’

Neal looked away.

‘Oh,’ Snow said quietly. ‘Regina.’

‘She’s still with Henry,’ Emma said. ‘We’ve got to tell her.’

‘Henry.’ Rumple’s head came up, and he blinked, looking over at Belle. ‘Henry is my grandson.’

Belle smiled at him. ‘Yes he is.’

Neal took a step towards the front of the shop, giving Rumple a wide berth.

Emma looked over at them. ‘We’re going to tell Regina,’ she said, indicating towards herself and her parents, then, facing Rumple; ‘I think you should stay here.’

‘I wasn’t suggesting I went,’ Rumple said, but without any venom.

Neal was still making his way around Rumple, carefully. ‘Yeah, I’m going with Emma.’

It was barely noticeable, but Belle saw Rumple flinch again.

‘Bae…’

‘Not right now. Okay?’ Neal said, backing away. ‘You just killed someone, so, not right now.’

Rumple swallowed, looked at the floor, and made no attempt to follow as Neal followed the others out the shop. His hand was twitched and Belle took a step forward.

‘Rumple?’ she said softly.

His head came up and he stared at her. ‘Belle. Belle, I am _so sorry,_ sweetheart.’

Belle threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his soft hair. Instantly, he held her back, his presence warm, comforting, like she’d been wanting, _missing_. He was there, with her. Finally.

‘Belle,’ Rumple mumbled into her hair.

Gripping his shoulders, Belle leaned back just enough to be able to look up into his eyes.

‘Rumplestiltskin,’ she said. ‘Don’t you _ever_ leave me again.’

‘Never,’ he promised immediately and Belle leant her forehead against his.

____________________________

 

The coffin lay in the middle of the room. It was no surprise to see Regina by it, dressed all in black, leaning on the wall, head bowed. Rumplestiltskin had hoped for a minute or two alone, but there was no reason to alert Regina to that. It would do no good now; admitting to anyone how he’d once felt about Cora.

Even if her last act had been to threaten both his True Love and his son.

‘Black was always your colour,’ Rumple said, in way of a greeting.

Regina looked up. ‘I'm here to bury my mother. So if you've come to gloat…’

He hadn’t. Rumple reflected that there had probably been more… appropriate things to say. But mother or not, Cora had only ever hurt Regina, and she knew that.

‘I came to pay my respects,’ Rumple told her, laying a single rose on the coffin. ‘We had our differences, but Cora will always have a place in my heart.’

Roses reminded him more of Belle, now. Still, they were a symbol of love and he _had_ loved Cora. Whether she’d ever loved him, well, that was something he would now never know. Perhaps that was for the best. Belle was his strength; she helped him hold back the darkness.

Cora… had never been interested in keeping darkness away. No one who was prepared to rip out their own heart could claim such a status. _What_ would have happened to him had she actually loved him, if they had stayed together? Nothing that Baelfire would have accepted, that was certain. Whether the person he'd become _was_ someone Bae would accept... well, that was still up for debate.

‘You killed her,’ Regina snapped.

‘To save my family,’ Rumple replied. ‘And, incidentally, yours.’

Regina sniffed, running a hand over her eyes. ‘You don’t know that she would have come for Henry.’

‘And yet that was also the conclusion you had reached.’

‘You didn’t have to kill her!’ Regina said. ‘You had her _heart_ you could have stopped her from hurting anyone. You _chose_ to kill her.’

Rumple was tempted to ignore that, to leave Regina to her grief, but he hesitated. He _had_ chosen to kill Cora, and despite his and Regina’s recent differences over Belle… sometimes Regina still felt like a little like a daughter.

‘You’re suggesting I could have controlled her. No. That was not an option.’ Rumplestiltskin knew the feeling of having such a threat over his head. And even the threat of it… He had no intention of putting someone else through it. Not someone he’d loved, certainly, and not someone who could feasibly get the better of him and become a threat once again. ‘I considered two options. One; I could put her heart back into her chest. Two; I could kill her.

‘I chose the second option, because there was no guarantee that the first would make a difference. A woman who would rip her heart out in the first place, well, she may do it again. So yes, Regina, I _chose_ to kill her, but it wasn’t a decision I took lightly.’

Regina drew in a shuddering breath. ‘Get. Out.' 

Under the circumstances, Rumple considered that fair. He cast a single look back at Cora’s final resting place, and took his leave.

 


	16. Chapter 16

 

The smell of frying bacon reached Belle, and she stretched, sitting up in bed and blinking. It was too late in the morning for Mr Gold to still be in the house and he rarely ate breakfast so why…

Memory returned in a rush.

‘ _Rumple_ ,’ Belle said, throwing off her blanket, and running downstairs.

There he was, standing in the kitchen, at the stovetop, frying eggs and bacon. A quick glance over to one side showed Belle that while the teapot was out, the coffee was tucked away almost out of sight, exactly where it had been the day before. She grinned.

‘Good morning, Rumple,’ Belle said, stepping fully into the kitchen.

He turned partially around, a beautifully soft expression on his face. ‘Good morning, sweetheart.’

Belle walked up to him and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and kissed him. For a moment the cooking was forgotten.

‘What, uh, what’s all this?’ Belle asked, taking a step back and indicating towards the frying pan.

‘ _I_ am making _you_ breakfast,’ said Rumple, smiling at her. ‘You’ve been looking after me, so I thought it was past time I returned the favour.’

Belle smiled back, squeezing his arm. ‘Thank you, Rumple.’

‘You’re very welcome.’ He glanced back down at the frying pan. ‘Why don’t you go and sit down? This will be ready in just a moment.’

Belle wandered back into the other room and, true to his word, Rumple walked in with two plates of breakfast only moments later. Belle savoured every second of it. Not just the food, but the opportunity; to be there with Rumple, with her True Love, at peace. Nothing looming on the horizon, no great threat coming to get them and no wall between them.

It was hard to believe how simple the answer had been. If Emma had known Rumple was Mr Gold before she stormed into her shop, then she might have introduced herself to him and if that had happened they would still have had to face Cora and Hook, but they could have done it together.

Now, though, they could face everything together, always.

‘Rumple,’ Belle said. ‘Could you wait here a moment? I just need to get something.’

‘Of course, sweetheart.’ Rumple watched her curiously as Belle stood up and left the room.

The box was in her bedroom, and although she handled it carefully, she could still hear it rattling as she walked down the stairs. Well she could put an end to that, or rather; Rumple could.

She set it down on the table.

‘Belle?’ Rumple asked, and Belle realised he’d never seen where she’d put it.

Belle reached forward and took the lid off the box, revealing the shattered pieces of the chipped cup. Rumple drew in a sharp breath, as if it physically pained him to see their cup in such a state. Belle knew the feeling.

‘I was wondering,’ Belle said, smiling at him, ‘if you could fix it?’

‘Yes,’ Rumple said, reaching out and touching the pieces lightly. ‘Yes, of course I can.’

He waved his hand and red smoke gathered around the pieces, obscuring them from sight. Belle leaned forward, peering into the box as the smoke dissipated again and there it was. Their chipped cup. Whole once again.

Rumple reached into the box and placed it on the table between them.

‘I’m sorry, Belle,’ he said, looking straight at her over the chipped cup. ‘For _all_ of that. Had I known…’ He shook his head. ‘I should have checked. I should have made certain that I could cross that line before I even thought about it, never mind bringing you across with me. I wasn’t cautious enough, and you’ve suffered because of it.’

‘It _wasn’t_ your fault.’ Belle had known that, all the way through it. ‘You just wanted to find your son. The curse was broken, and you had no reason to think there’d be a problem leaving town.’

Rumple closed his eyes. ‘You had to face my enemies, you had to face _Cora_ , without me there. If Miss Swan hadn’t inadvertently woken me when she did…’

‘The Cora might have got your dagger,’ Belle said quietly.

‘And she would _certainly_ have hurt you,’ said Rumple.

A thought occurred to Belle and she hesitated. There was no way Rumple hadn’t already thought of it, but she couldn’t not say anything.

‘The, uh, the dagger,’ Belle said. ‘It’s… you can’t get to it anymore.’

It was over the town line. It had seemed such a safe place when they’d thought of it together, and then with Rumple gone it had been a relief knowing most of the people in Storybrooke couldn’t get to it. Now, even Rumple couldn’t get to it and Belle hated having put him in that position.

Rumple’s hands twitched on the table. ‘Yes. I know.’

Of course he’d already thought about it.

‘I can get it for you,’ Belle offered. ‘I’ll bring it straight back to you, and then you can hide it wherever you want to.’

She saw Rumple take a few deep breaths.

‘No.’

Belle couldn’t stop herself flinching. ‘Rumple, I wouldn’t use it, I promise you. I’d just take it back to you.’

Rumple just about managed a smile. ‘It’s not that, Belle. You’re the reason it stayed safe at all. _You_ had the presence of mind to go out there and hide it, when I didn’t even know it existed. No. I want to leave it there because despite a great many people looking, it was never found.’

‘But only Cora and Hook were looking for it,’ Belle said.

Rumple laughed sourly. ‘I don’t care what they told you, Belle, the Charming’s were off looking for it as well. _Purely_ to stop Cora getting it, of course.’

Belle remembered that conversation all too well, so she couldn’t fault Rumple for the bitterness in his voice. Had they stopped looking just on her suggestion? Probably not. _Definitely_ not, Belle decided. Never once had she got the impression that she’d changed Snow and David’s minds about the dagger.

‘Okay,’ Belle said. ‘But you can’t-‘

‘I _know_ ,’ Rumple said again and it was definitely bothering him. ‘Perhaps it’s better that way.’ He hesitated. ‘If Bae wishes to know where it is, he may, but I doubt he’ll ask.’

‘When are you going to go see him?’ Belle asked, unsurprised that Rumple would trust his son with the dagger. She’d heard Neal talking about it and just from that she was certain he’d never want the power it had.

‘Ah.’ Rumple grimaced. ‘Well, I’ll be trying to see him later today. Whether he’ll see me… that’s another matter entirely.’

‘I’m sure he will, Rumple. I’ve spoken to Neal a few times, and he’s hurting, but he’s a good person.’ Belle took Rumple’s hand. ‘He might not be happy with you straight away, but give him time.’

‘Yes,’ Rumple agreed. ‘Yes, time, of course. What matters is that he’s here.’ He squeezed her hand and Belle could see the hope in his eyes. ‘He’s here.’

___________________________

 

Rumplestiltskin approached the beach because Henry and Emma were there, and if Henry and Emma were there, it stood a good chance that Baelfire would join them at some point. Of all the ways he’d expected to be reunited with his son…

Ah well, it certainly explained why Henry had reminded him of Bae.

Henry sat on the beach, reading rather than digging in the sand. He was a little way off from his mother, as for the Saviour herself, well… On the beach there was a pile of sticks, neatly arranged down on the sand.

Emma sat by the make shift firewood, one hand outstretched, eyes closed, jaw clenched.

Rumple watched her silently for moment. Exactly _what_ she was doing was beyond him. It was _possible_ she was trying to do magic… but… like _that_? And why, exactly? So much effort when she’d made her dislike for magic quite clear and the Land Without Magic had matches.

‘Those sticks must have wronged you quite badly dearie,’ he said, ‘from the way you’re scowling at them.’

Emma jumped, her eyes flying open, then she turned the glare on him.

‘Trying to set _me_ on fire now, are we?’ he asked, amused.

Emma got up, brushing her hands on her pants. ‘I think I preferred you as Mr Gold.’

He smiled. ‘I vividly remember a conversation you had with, ah, _Mr Gold_ about how much you dislike magic.’ He waved a hand at the attempted fire. ‘So what’s this?’

‘Why’re you asking?’ Emma folded her arms.

‘Curiosity, Miss Swan. That’s all.’

It was tempting to light it himself, and see if that got her talking, but it seemed he didn’t need it, because Emma sighed, dropping the confrontational stance.

He was surprised about that, but perhaps, he reflected, he shouldn’t have been. Emma had been one of the few people willing to speak to him as Mr Gold.

‘Look, when we had that fight against Cora, I was _useless_ , okay? I had a sword and a gun and I couldn’t do a damned thing to protect my family. We had to come up with a crazy scheme because I couldn’t use magic properly. What if she’d moved earlier? What if Henry had been there? Cora could have taken him and the best I could have done was stood there and _watched_ her.’ Emma looked back towards the fireplace. ‘Unless, I could make this magic thing work.’

‘And you believe that glaring at this stick arrangement will have that effect?’

Oddly, he found he could sympathise with Emma Swan’s problem. Where had he been without magic? Stuck, watching his son about to be dragged off to be slaughtered by ogres, that’s where. Whatever Bae said about him and his magic, he _had_ prevented that, and now… Emma Swan was now family and Belle was insisting he could make himself a better man. Bae would want that to, hopefully.

‘I was…’ Emma rolled her eyes. ‘Regina told me to use anger, so I was thinking about something that made me angry and trying to light it.’

‘It didn’t seem to be working,’ Rumple observed.

Regina had been passing on his lessons and while they’d been good for her, or rather, good for the type of magic he wanted her to use and the kind of person he’d needed her to become, he had his doubts about Emma.

‘Yeah. Thanks. Magic _is_ using anger, right? Regina wasn’t just messing with me?’

Rumple hummed softly. ‘It’s certainly one way.’

‘There’s another?’ Emma asked.

‘Well, magic is emotion, Miss Swan. _Any_ emotion. Regina is particularly well suited to using her anger, you; I suspect less so.’ He raised his eyebrows at her. ‘I have no doubt it _will_ work, once you’ve been trained, but perhaps start with something else. Your feelings over Henry may be a good start.’

A strong desire to protect those he loved had always worked well for him. Using anger as his emotion was _too_ effective, something that had taken him far too many years to learn. Anger was… well, unless he was careful, using magic when he was angry caused quite a bit of damage. Smashing things physically tended to be a better outlet.

He wasn’t planning on mentioning that last part to Emma.

She sent him a suspicious look and turned back to the fireplace, her forehead screwing up.

Rumple rolled his eyes to the sky; he could practically _hear_ her overthinking it.

‘Stop _thinking_ , Miss Swan.’

She stopped. Turned around. ‘What? I’ve got to think about what I’m doing, how the hell else am I supposed to do it?’

No wonder there hadn’t been a contest with Cora.

‘ _Feel_ it. Don’t think it. You have to _feel_ it.’

The look she sent him suggested she didn’t believe him. Rumple pictured Regina and her definite lack of patience attempting to teach Emma magic, and smiled.

‘What?’ Emma demanded.

‘Nothing.’

‘Wanting to protect someone isn’t even an emotion,’ Emma complained. ‘Honestly, how do I focus on wanting to protect someone who’s sitting over there and isn’t in immediate danger?’

‘Must I spell it out for you, Miss Swan?’ Rumple folded his hands in front of him. ‘I was suggesting you base your magic on _love_ , rather than anger.’

Silence descended and Rumple let it. Emma Swan likely needed a few minutes to work through that, particularly when so far her only teacher in magic had been Regina.

‘Anger seemed pretty damn effective for you,’ Emma said. ‘I mean, as Mr Gold.’

Rumple smiled. ‘Have you been down near the town line recently? Is that something you would like to replicate every time you attempt to, say, light a fire?’

‘Okay,’ Emma said, her face saying she _had_ been down to the line since his fight with Cora. ‘Fine. Point taken.’

That fight down at the town line had been a mistake, and one born out of a short fuse temper, Rumple had to admit. Of course, it was never a good idea to take a powerful witch like Cora head on unless you _were_ willing to make a mess, but he could have done so much better. Raw power could only do so much.

‘So what do I do if my magic gets wildly out of control like that?’

Rumple raised his eyebrows at her. ‘I have a _curse_ , Miss Swan, as I’m sure my son will have told you. My magic tends to behave _…_ differently to someone who has a natural talent for it.’

‘You didn’t answer my question.’

Rumple sighed. ‘In the event that your magic gets wildly out of control Miss Swan, I would suggest… anger management classes. I’m sure Dr Hopper will be happy to help.’

Emma’s eyes narrowed, and behind her the fire burst into life.

‘Very good,’ Rumple noted. ‘However next time perhaps you could take my advice and _not_ use anger?’

Emma swung around and stared at the fire. ‘I did that?’

‘Indeed you did. Would you like to arrange an appointment with Dr Hopper for today, or do you imagine tomorrow will be soon enough to save us from your wrath?’

‘Well maybe if _someone_ wasn’t standing there making useless little comments-‘

‘Cool!’ Henry appeared, his book tucked under his arm, and Rumple found himself smiling.

‘Hi Henry,’ he said.

‘Hi,’ Henry said brightly. ‘Are you _really_ teaching my mom magic?’

Rumple glanced over at Emma and caught her grimacing. ‘Not… exactly.’

‘Could you teach _me_ magic?’ Henry asked, those brown eyes staring up at him with hope.

‘Ah. Well. Henry, I…’ Rumple stopped. In all likelihood, his grandson _did_ have magic, although not because of him, oh no, because of his mother; the Saviour. Even if she did struggle to light a fire. ‘Henry, I would like that, but I’m afraid if your father found out, Belle would never find where he’d buried me.’

‘No, he won’t kill you,’ Henry said cheerfully. ‘He told me he’d never go near the Dark One dagger for as long as he lived.’

‘He doesn’t need to kill me to bury me,’ Rumple said.

‘You are _not_ teaching Henry magic,’ Emma said, moving across to her son. ‘Particularly not if you want to try and teach him to get furious at everything.’

‘I believe I was _attempting_ to teach you the opposite,’ Rumple said, with some exasperation. ‘And if you’d cared to listen, I just refused to teach Henry magic.’

‘Only because Neal wouldn’t like it,’ Emma shot back.

‘Yes, and a good reason, I think, to refuse to teach his son magic.’

‘But _mom_ ,’ Henry said.

‘Henry, magic is _not_ something we need more of around here,’ Emma told him. ‘Okay?’

‘ _You’re_ trying to learn,’ Henry pointed out, demonstrating the kind of thinking that Rumple thought would serve him well in life.

He only realised he was smiling at Henry’s words when Emma sent him another death glare. It seemed a good time to bow out of the conversation.

‘Well, Miss Swan, I’ll leave you to explain that little conundrum to Henry, if you will kindly tell me where I can find Baelfire.’

Emma frowned. ‘Neal?’

‘Yes,’ Rumple said, wondering who else he could possibly be talking about.

As for the name… If Bae truly wanted him to call him Neal, then that’s what he’d do. That scenario did bring with it the implication that Bae did want Rumple to talk to him, after all.

‘Are you really my grandfather?’ Henry asked, and he actually sounded quite happy about it. That was a surprisingly nice development.

‘I really am,’ Rumple agreed. ‘I suppose you’ve found yourself with more family than you ever expected.’

More family than was perhaps healthy, given that it included himself, Regina _and_ Snow White and Prince Charming. Rumplestiltskin amused himself by imaging David’s reaction when he’d found out they were _both_ Henry’s grandfather.

‘Yep!’ Henry said, a grin splitting his face.

Oddly, Rumple found himself wishing he’d brought Henry a present.

He raised his eyes to Emma. ‘And you too, Miss Swan.’

‘Yeah, but it was your fault she was split up from her family in the first place.’

Rumple froze.

‘Bae,’ he said, quietly.

‘Yeah,’ Baelfire said from somewhere behind Rumple. ‘What are you doing near my family?’

And Henry, of course, had to pipe up; ‘He’s teaching mom magic.’

Rumple closed his eyes. When he opened them Baelfire had moved around so that he could step between Emma and Rumple in a single move. Rumple gritted his teeth and pretended not to notice. Honestly, he’d just saved them _all_ from Cora, did Bae truly expect him to try and hurt them _now_?

Baelfire was looking at Emma. ‘He’s doing _what_?’

‘Teaching me magic,’ Emma said folding her arms as Rumple turned to her in disbelief. ‘So I can actually defend Henry next time some magical _thing_ attacks this place.’

He hadn’t noticed at first, but Emma was looking at Baelfire in a very peculiar way. They still weren’t together, Rumple realised, but Emma wanted them to be. Interesting.

‘But,’ Bae was saying, ‘have you _seen_ him?’

‘That’s less of an effective threat in this world,’ Rumple observed and instantly regretted it. What was wrong with him? He was trying _not_ to antagonise Baelfire. Things were tentative at best, if he put a foot wrong…

‘Yeah,’ Emma said, ignoring Rumple. ‘I saw him defeat Cora when I could do nothing.’

‘We could have found another way!’ Baelfire complained. ‘Emma, trust me, magic is not a good idea. _He_ wanted it for good originally, and that _really_ didn’t work out.’

‘Well _you_ survived,’ Rumple said, and winced. He’d done it again.

Bae rounded on him. ‘What about _everyone else_?’

Rumple opened his mouth to remind Baelfire that he _had_ stopped a war, but this time managed to stop himself. That was not going to help. He searched frantically for something that _would_.

‘I’ll learn magic if I want to learn magic,’ Emma was snapping. ‘It’s my risk and it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Do you really think you can barge back into my life and then tell me what to _do_?’

‘Emma, no. No, it’s just a warning. I’m just trying to _help_ -’ Baelfire tried to argue.

‘Stop!’ Henry shouted. ‘Please! You’re my _family_.’

Both Baelfire and Emma stopped immediately, they glanced guiltily at one another and then both stared at the ground.

‘Bae,’ Rumple said into the silence. ‘Bae, I just want to talk.’

‘What could you _possibly_ say to make anything better?’ Baelfire demanded.

Rumple’s mind went blank. There’d been things he was going to say, he was certain of it. There were things he’d already said, back in the shop. There was his boy, right in front of him, staring at him with hostile eyes and he had _every right_ to feel like that.

‘I don’t know,’ Rumple whispered.

‘Come on kid,’ Emma said quietly to Henry. ‘We’re going to just… head over there for a moment.’

They moved away and Rumple was fully prepared to have to beg Baelfire to stay to hear him out, was certain he’d find _something_ to say by then… but Bae didn’t move to follow Emma. Rumple looked down at his polished shoes, watching the sand blow over them.

‘You broke our deal,’ Baelfire said and the words hurt all the more for the truth in them.

‘I… I did.’ He’d been so afraid, he barely remembered making the choice. But he had. And that choice had been to abandon his son. ‘I made the wrong choice, Bae, and I’ve regretted it ever since. I’ve tried everything to get here, to see you again.’

‘You abandoned me.’

Rumple flinched. He knew what it was like, to feel like your parent didn’t love you. He had never, _never_ wanted Bae to feel the same. ‘I know. I’m so sorry, Bae. I’m so sorry.’

Bae didn’t answer, just stood by his side, not looking at him.

‘I spoke to Belle,’ Baelfire said finally. ‘She seems to love you.’

‘Yeah,’ Rumple said, nodding as he pictured Belle and the understanding that shone out of her beautiful blue eyes. ‘Yeah, she does. And I love her.’

Bae shifted beside him. ‘She said… she said you told her about the dagger. Told her where you’d hidden it.’

Rumple knew this would be shaky ground. The dagger was… dangerous. Both for him and others. Baelfire knew that better than anyone.

‘She decided where to hide it,’ Rumple admitted.

‘That’s… I wasn’t expecting that,’ said Bae.

‘She asked me to trust her,’ Rumple mumbled. It hadn’t been an easy decision; letting Belle chose where the dagger would be hidden. It probably should have been, but it hadn’t. Now… she was right, he couldn’t retrieve it himself and that was… possibly better. In time maybe he’d even get used to that.

‘And you did.’ Baelfire shifted again and looked up, looked straight at Rumple. ‘What is it that you want from me?’

‘A chance,’ Rumple said, the relief at even being asked was almost overwhelming. ‘I just want a chance to be a part of your life again. I can’t get rid of my curse, but I can promise that I’m trying to be a better man again.’

‘A chance.’ Bae scratched his head and actually, somehow, seemed to be considering it. ‘Well, Belle did say you were trying to change.’ He paused again, hesitated and put his hand on Rumple’s shoulder. ‘All right. You have a chance.' 

Rumple breathed out slowly, tears prickling his eyes. A chance. Hundreds of years of trying, and that was all he’d ever wanted.

 


End file.
